Sexually active life expectancy

Sexually active life expectancy is the average number of years remaining for a person to be sexually active. This population-based indicator extends the concept of health expectancy to the measure of sexuality (via sexual activity). Calculation of sexually active life expectancy uses the age-specific prevalence data on sexual activity in conjunction with life table data on survival probabilities to partition the number of person-years into years with and without sexual activity, which is based on the Sullivan method. The measure of sexually active life expectancy was introduced by Lindau and Gavrilova.

A study of two large population-based U.S. surveys found that, on average, women expect fewer years of sexual activity, mainly due to prevalent widowhood among older women. This gender disparity is attenuated for people with a spouse or other intimate partner. The study also found that men tend to lose more years of sexually active life due to poor health.

Sexually active life expectancy is an associated with self-reports of good health in both men and women. Sexuality has been identified as an important attribute to overall health and a marker of quality of life. Physicians may find that sexually active life expectancy can be used as an incentive for patients to become (and stay) healthy.

A study investigating the relationship between years of sexually active life and health, showed that men tend to be more interested in sex compared to women, both in midlife and later life. In addition, the research demonstrated that only 51.8% of women in a later stage of life reported being satisfied by their sexual life compared to 71.1% of men.

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