[Characteristics of the sexual sphere in elderly patients]

Sexuality plays a fundamental role in our lives, but there is little research on this subject with representative samples. This study aims to analyse the knowledge and characteristics of sexual function in people over 60 years of age.

An observational cross-sectional study was carried out. The sample consisted of people over 60 years of age who voluntarily attended health education talks on sexuality held in urban centres for the elderly. Before the talk, they were given a questionnaire to assess their sexual habits and practices. The talk on sexuality was given, and a questionnaire related to the concepts mentioned while the talk was delivered. The data from the questionnaires were collected on spreadsheets in Microsoft Office Excel for Windows, and the statistical analysis was performed with the statistical package SPSS.

The results show that sexual activity is important in those over sixty years, with 52.53% of respondents having relationships. More than 70% of adults over 60 refer to being sexually attractive for their age. There were concepts about sexuality that were not clear after the talk.

Our society is experiencing progressive aging involving the elderly groups in sex education, emphasising the changes at the sexual level implied by age. It is important to start training sessions on health education with content on sexuality and body image reinforcement in the elderly population.