Behind Closed Doors

Indiana University recently published  The National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior.
Interesting reading for us gyn geeks. It seems that casual sex is bimodal, for those under 25 and those over 50. It's just riskier with a 50+ man. They only use condoms 25% of the time, while 18-19 year olds use condoms 80% of the time. Makes one wonder if the cougars know something.

This is not an unusual conversation I have with my over 50 patients. How to have that "how do we deal with std" conversation. See my earlier blog entries regarding herpes for some details.
It is now a fact, and will be a focus of public health efforts, that you should get the AIDS education along with your AARP card. Us old folks have been around the block. That means more time to accumulate little gifts that keep on giving. Again, see earlier blogs for the herpes virus heartbreak.

Now it seems that most of the sex is happening between ages 20-40. No big surprise. There is a progressive decline in reported sexual behavior with a partner after age 40 for women and men. The varieties of sexual behavior that was surveyed included solo and partnered masturbation, oral sex given and received by same and opposite sex partners, anal sex given and received , vaginal intercourse,  and condom use. It seems that most everyone has tried oral sex, but less than half anal intercourse.
Vaginal intercourse is still the mainstay of experience, however partnered masturbation was a surprise, at least to me. Non coital sex is an important part of the national repetoire.

The purpose of the study was to shed light on contemporary sex practices to focus on the future needs of public health campaigns. This surveys a  comprehensive statistically valid sample of Americans. The last such survey was about 1990. The survey was published in a supplement to the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

Until next time,