Quality of Sexual Life and Its Relationship with Socio-demographic Characteristics among Older Men with symptoms of Andropause

Evidence now indicates insufficient knowledge about the quality of sexual life of older adults with symptoms of andropause. This study was therefore performed to measure the quality of sexual life of older adults with symptoms of andropause and its relationship with some socio-demographic characteristics.

This cross-sectional study was performed on 271 older adults with symptoms of andropause, who were selected by convenience sampling from health centers in Mashhad, Iran in 2021. The data was collected using a demographic questionnaire and the Men's Sexual Quality of Life Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using correlation tests, independent t-tests, and one-way analysis of variance.

The mean age of older men with andropause was 73.37±8.08 years. The quality of sexual life had a significant relationship with the underlying variables including age, education, type of employment, duration of marriage, age of spouse, education of spouse, type of spouse employment, type of sexual attitude of the spouse, number of sexual intercourse and chronic diseases (P<0.05). The results showed a significant inverse relationship between quality of sexual life and andropause severity in older adults (r = -0.36, P <0.001).

Based on the results, it can be recommended to the healthcare planners to improve quality of sexual life of older men with andropause by paying more attention to the role of changeable factors such as knowledge and type of sexual attitude of spouses, knowledge regarding andropause and sexual intercourse as well as monitoring some underlying diseases in planning health promotion programs.