Perceived barriers of expression of sexual desires among older adults: a qualitative study

Abstract

Although normal expression of sexual desire is recognized as one of the important aspects of sexual life throughout the life course, older adults experience many barriers to expressing their sexual needs and desires. Thus, this study explored the barriers to the expression of sexual desires in older ages. A qualitative study was adopted with a conventional content analysis approach. Nineteen elderly males and females over 60 years participated in this study. Data were collected by semi-structured individual interviews until data saturation and concurrently analyzed via MAXQDA 10. Four main themes emerged from data analysis as the main barriers of expression of sexual desires in the older ages: existing stereotypes about sexual roles of older adults; declining emotional bonding and intimacy; experiencing a sense of sexual dysfunction; and unpleasant aspects about spouse and life. Older adults are not easy to express his/her sexual desires and believe that having sexual activities in the aging years might be considered inappropriate behavior. As a result, most older adults end up suppressing their sexual desires. Hence, geriatric health-care delivery systems should have a focus on how to provide the necessary consultations and support for older persons.

LAY SUMMARY

Older adults may experience some barriers to expressing their sexual desires such as existing stereotypes about sexual roles of older adults, declining emotional bonding, and sense of sexual dysfunction. Therefore, older adults are not easy to express their sexual desires and may suppress their sexual desires.

Keywords:

• Sexuality
• older adults
• sexual desire
• couple
• stereotypes
• elderly
• qualitative research

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Also, we are grateful to participants for sharing their experiences in the study.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Notes on contributors

Tabriz University of Medical Sciences (TBZMED) provided financial resources by the approval ID of IR.TBZMED.REC.1398.365.

Authors’ contributions

BN and HA provided a research proposal and final report. BN and MH have done data collection and analysis. MH and HA provided the initial draft of the manuscript. VK also participated in editing the document and delivering the final version. All the authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Data availability statement

Datasets are available in the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences repository system.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mina Hashemiparast

Mina Hashemiparast is currently an assistant professor of health education and Promotion, at Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran. She obtained her Ph.D in health education and promotion from Tehran University of Medical sciences. Her research and teaching interests include health psychology, elderly health, and health sociology. She has published a number of research papers/articles. She published a book entitled “Qualitative research in health sciences” in Persian, 2018. She has presented many research papers at international and national conferences. More than 5 national workshops in qualitative and mixed methods study have been held by the author. In addition, Dr. Hashemiparast had managerial positions Education Development Center from 2016 to 2020 in the Maragheh University of Medical Sciences.

Bahar Naderi

Bahar Naderi has a master’s degree in geriatric health. She has passed her MSc. at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. She also graduated from Qazvin University of Medical Sciences with a bachelor’s degree in healthcare management.Her research area of interest includes elderly health and sexual desire among the elderly. Based on this, she conducted her dissertation in a master’s degree about the barriers of expression of sexual desire among the elderly. In this regard, her supervisor and advisor were Dr. Hamid Allahverdipour and Mina Hashemiparast, respectively.

Vijay Kumar Chattu

Vijay Kumar Chattu is a Medical doctor with an MD in Community Medicine and holds an MPH in Health Policy. Besides, he also specialized in Sexual Reproductive Health and did MPhil in HIV/AIDS Management. He is currently affiliated with the Department of Medicine, University of Toronto and two other universities in India. He has an excellent track of over 250 publications and was listed in World’s Top 2% Scientists in 2021 by Elsevier B.V.

Hamid Allahverdipour

Hamid Allahverdipour is a Professor of Health promotion and education, and the Dean of the Department of Health Education and Promotion at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. He is also the Editor in Chief of HEALTH PROMOTION PERSPECTIVE as an international journal. Additionally, he is a member of the Bureau of Health Promotion and Education of the Ministry of Health in Iran. In recent years, Dr. Hamid Allahverdipour has focused on aging and health as well as sexual health and have numerous research project and publication in the field of sexual health promotion.