Overview

• A cross-sectional analysis of 3,465 sexually active women at a Mayo Clinic practice, including 554 aged 65 and older, found no significant difference in overall female sexual dysfunction rates between those cohorts.
• Women 65 and older reported less sexual-related distress on the Female Sexual Distress Scale-Revised than women aged 50 to 64 (57% vs. 61.9%; P = .03).
• Older women were less likely to report loss of sexual desire (33.4% vs. 47.6%; P < .001) and reduced genital sensation (13.0% vs. 16.9%; P = .02), alongside a small increase in concern about genital pain (8.1% vs. 5.8%; P = .04).
• Stephanie S. Faubion and other researchers urge health care professionals to integrate routine, age-inclusive sexual-health discussions into visits to destigmatize concerns.
• Authors highlight the need for further community-based research on treatment awareness and barriers to sexual-health care among older women.