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Sexual behaviour and diagnosis of people over the age of 50 attending a sexual health clinic
Author(s) -
Bourne Chris,
Minichiello Victor
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
australasian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 1440-6381
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-6612.2008.00336.x
Subject(s) - medicine , condom , urethritis , reproductive health , sexual health clinic , psychological intervention , genital herpes , public health , sex organ , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , family medicine , sexual behavior , gynecology , population , psychiatry , men who have sex with men , syphilis , clinical psychology , nursing , environmental health , virus , herpes simplex virus , virology , biology , genetics
Objectives: To investigate the sexual health and behaviour of older Australians attending a sexual health clinic.Methods: A retrospective patient record of people aged 50 years and over attending the clinic.Results: 2438 people aged 50 years and over attending. The main reasons for attending were assessment of genital symptoms (40%), testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) (23%), and HIV testing/care (13%); more than 50% of the clients had a previous sexual health problem and more than 50% had not been tested for HIV. Men reported more lifetime sexual partners than women and were significantly more likely to report using condoms ( P < 0.05), although condom use was variable. Genital herpes (10% women, 6% men) and non‐gonococcal urethritis (9% men) were the most commonly diagnosed STIs. Conclusions: High levels of unsafe sex and many important sexual health problems were identified which provide direction for public health interventions for older sexually active Australians.