Boomers Face STI Increase

Courtesy of Rosa Ellen
25 Oct, 2011

Their kids might not like to think about it, but baby boomers are having more sex and – like the young – face increasing risks of sexually transmissible infections (STIs).

But how often would a doctor slip in a routine Chlamydia test for a patient in their 50s?

Not enough, says Linda Kirkman, a PhD candidate at the La Trobe University Rural Health School in Bendigo.

“The policy around sexual health really relates to reproductive health,” Ms Kirkman said.

“It ignores the reality that people across their lifetime are sexually active, not just people in their 20s.”

Online dating, divorce and a growing acceptance of mature age ‘re-partnering’ has seen the sexual activity of the over-60s gain pace.

“There’s an opportunity that wasn’t available in the past… the desire for intimacy goes along the life span. It gives us pleasure, helps us relax and improves our wellbeing,” Mr Kirkman said.

But STI screening and sexual health promotion was targeted at the under-29s, she said.

Among the research on baby boomer sexuality was a study on an online dating site that found over-60s participants were likely to engage in sex the first time they met face to face.

Despite rates of Chlamydia doubling in the past four years and a huge campaign to test young people, most older people would not be tested, Mr Kirkman said.

“If you have one STI it puts you at risk of others… like pelvic inflammatory disease (that’s) one of the consequences no matter how old you are.”

This week Ms Kirkman discussed her area of study at the Ninth Annual/Oceania Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics in Melbourne, the only participant talking specifically about sex, the technique of which changes with age as well.

“If you talk about sexual activity for older people it’s important to note sex doesn’t have to involve penetration. It means you have to be creative,” she said.