People who are in good health are almost twice as likely to be interested in sex compared to those in poor health, according to research published on bmj.com. It is already established that sexual activity has health benefits and is linked to living longer. However, the study from researchers at the University of Chicago finds that at the age of 30, men have a sexually active life expectancy of nearly 35 years and women have one of almost 31 years. This gender difference diminishes for people with a spouse or intimate partner.
 

While sexually active life expectancy was longer for men, they lost more years of this activity due to poor health than women.

 

The authors used data from two representative research groups in the United States. One group consisted of more than 3,000 men and women between the ages of 25 and 74 and the other included over 3000 men and women between 57 and 85 years of age. Participants provided information about their relationship status and rated the quality of their sex lives and how often they had sex. They also rated the level of their general health between poor and excellent.

 

The results show that men are more likely to be sexually active, report a good sex life, and be interested in sex than women. This difference was most dramatic among the 75 to 85 year old group, where four out of ten (40 percent) males compared to less than two out of ten (17 percent) women were sexually active.

 

“Sexually active life expectancy estimation is a new life expectancy tool than can be used for projecting public health and patient needs in the arena of sexual health,” the authors write. They say projecting the population patterns of later life sexual activity is useful for anticipating need for public health resources, expertise and medical services.