The survey of sexual health for wrinkly and elderly women in China
Methods: Questionnaires were distributed to 5000 women as potential subjects in the Wuhan Old Age University.
Results: 274 effective questionnaires were collected. The women’s age ranged from 41 to 86 years. 80.3% women were married; 36.1% were single, divorced or bereft of spouse; 71% of women had sex activities with spouse: among the women engaging in sex, 35.5% of females had sexual activities once a month, 23.9% of females had sexual activities one to two times per month; 10.2% of females had active sexual life of more than 3 times per month. 33.5% of females had sexual orgasmic experiences. 48.2% of women had enjoyment from the sexual life; 35.5% of women thought that sex is very important for marital life; 11.1% of women believed that if there were no sexual intimacy between the couple, they may end up in divorce. 48.2% women had sexual problems; 36% of these women with sexual problems never sought help for the difficulties; 35.0% of these women presented with vaginal dryness or sexual pain; and 14.0% of women lacked sufficient sexual knowledge. The level of sexual desire in the age group of 40 years was similar with the group of 70 years and higher than the groups of 50 years and 60 years. Generally speaking, the problems in wrinkly women are more than those in the elderly women. The climacteric period in women’s life is the worse time for sexual problems.
Conclusion: Sexual life is very important for women. The level of desire varies at different time points in the whole life of women. We should pay attention to the varied and specific needs of women’s sexual health.
