Zoomer women and sex

The research, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, looked at 1,977 women from various ethnic and racial backgrounds. The participants, whose ages ranged from 45-80 years old, were asked to fill out questionnaires on their physical, mental and sexual health. Just over two-thirds were married or living with a partner.

Researchers found that 43 per cent of the women overall rated their desire to have sex as being moderate to very high, while 60 per cent reported some sexual activity in the past three months.

When it came to women over 65, over a quarter reported at least moderate interest in sex during the past three months, and nearly 37 per cent had engaged in sexual activity during that time. Over half said they were at least moderately sexually satisfied.

For women who were not sexually active, the most common reasons included lack of interest (39 per cent), lack of a partner (36 per cent), a partner's physical problems (23 per cent), and a partner's lack of interest in sex (11 per cent). Only about 9 per cent of the women said that their personal physical problems were the cause.

Not surprisingly, women who were married or living with a partner were three times as likely to have sex at least weekly. Women who scored higher on tests of mental and physical health were also more likely to have sex on a weekly basis.

The researchers also identified some ethnic and racial differences among the participants. Black women, for example, were more likely than white women to report at least a moderate interest in sex, but less likely to have sex on a weekly basis. And Latina women who were sexually active were more likely than sexually active whites to report being at least moderately satisfied with their sex lives.