Seeking help for sexual difficulties: findings from a study with older adults in four European countries

Sharron Hinchliff (), Ana Alexandra Carvalheira, Aleksandar Štulhofer, Erick Janssen, Gert Martin Hald and Bente Træen
Additional contact information
Sharron Hinchliff: University of Sheffield
Ana Alexandra Carvalheira: ISPA-University Institute
Aleksandar Štulhofer: University of Zagreb
Erick Janssen: University of Leuven
Gert Martin Hald: University of Copenhagen
Bente Træen: University of Oslo

European Journal of Ageing, 2020, vol. 17, issue 2, No 6, 185-195

Abstract: Abstract Sexual well-being is an important part of life for many people aged 60 and older. However, older adults often face barriers to seeking and receiving help for sexual difficulties. This study used data from a probability survey (n = 3820) on sexuality and ageing to examine help-seeking in 60–75-year-olds in Norway, Denmark, Belgium, and Portugal. More men (12.2%) than women (6.8%) had sought professional help for a sexual difficulty in the past 5 years. The main reason for help-seeking was that sex was important to the participant and/or their relationship. The main source of professional help was the primary care physician. Of those who had sought professional help, 48% were satisfied or very satisfied with the help received, 31.6% were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, and 20.4% were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied. Others had sought help from informal sources, particularly partners, friends, or websites. The main reasons for not seeking professional help included not being distressed by the symptoms, and thinking that the difficulty would clear up on its own. Multivariable regression analysis revealed that significant correlates of seeking professional help for women and men were level of distress about the sexual difficulty. With regard to women, those who were married, and/or from Portugal were more likely to have sought help. And regarding men, those who attended religious services were more likely to have sought professional help. These results have important implications for healthcare and can be used to inform the development and delivery of services for older adults who experience sexual difficulties.

Keywords: Older adults; Sexual difficulties; Seeking help; Sexual well-being; Cross-European (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10433-019-00536-8 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:17:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s10433-019-00536-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.springer ... iences/journal/10433

DOI: 10.1007/s10433-019-00536-8

Access Statistics for this article

European Journal of Ageing is currently edited by Marja Aartsen, Susanne Iwarsson and Prof. Dr. Matthias Kliegel

More articles in European Journal of Ageing from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().