Sexual behavior and increasing vulnerability of elderly population to sexually transmitted infections: Need for active interventions

Abstract

Objective: The objective of the study was to study the pattern of sexual behavior and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among the patients attending the STIs clinic in a tertiary care hospital in Western Uttar Pradesh. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among all confirmed STI cases attending the STI clinic during the period of 1 year. Data were collected by means of personal interview using pretested pro forma with questions related to their sexual behavior and STIs. Relevant investigations were carried out for all cases. Data were entered in Excel sheet and analyzed by means of Epi Info version 7. Results: A total of 373 patients were reported with anogenital lesions. Out of these, 310 were confirmed cases of STI. Surprisingly, in the clinic, the attendance of elderly was 41 (13% of total cases). The attendance of older adults (>40 years of age) was more (178, 57.41%) in comparison to the younger population (132, 42.58%). Among the older population, males outnumbered female patients. Out of the total lesions, the most common genital lesion was herpes genitalis followed by balanoposthitis. Conclusion: We generally assume that, with increasing age, the chances of acquiring STIs are less, but in our study, most of them admitted to having regular sexual activity and this clearly indicated the vulnerability of the elderly population to STIs. We definitely need to focus on their sexual needs and sex education to prevent the increased rate of infections among them.

Keywords

• genital lesions/sexually transmitted infections
• older adults
• sexual behavior