Sexual dysfunction in the older adult

As patients grow older, the incidence of sexual dysfunction increases while sexual activity decreases. Multiple factors contribute to sexual problems, and older age compounds and complicates those factors. Although sexual activity can diminish with age, it helps to acknowledge that more than half of older adults are sexually active. Further, the majority of men and women over the age of 65 report an interest in sex. This chapter helps the practitioners to: define sexuality and sexual dysfunction; distinguish differences in impotence and erectile dysfunction; explain the hormonal changes in aging adult women; apply principles of interdisciplinary collaboration to clinical practice; and identify risk factors genito-pelvic pain/penetration disorder, orgasmic disorder and female sexual interest/arousal disorder. It also helps to recommend evidence-based practice interventions to older adults suffering from reproductive changes; establish a differential for erectile dysfunction in the aging male; and explain options for medical management and treatment of erectile dysfunction.