| Title |
“The Pleasure Is Better as I’ve Gotten Older”: Sexual Health, Sexuality, and Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Older Women Living With HIV
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Archives of Sexual Behavior, May 2016
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s10508-016-0751-1 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Tonya N. Taylor, Corrine E. Munoz-Plaza, Lakshmi Goparaju, Omar Martinez, Susan Holman, Howard L. Minkoff, Stephen E. Karpiak, Monica Gandhi, Mardge H. Cohen, Elizabeth T. Golub, Alexandra M. Levine, Adebola A. Adedimeji, Rebecca Gonsalves, Tiffany Bryan, Nina Connors, Gabrielle Schechter, Tracey E. Wilson |
| Abstract |
There is limited research examining the sexual health and well-being of older women living with HIV (OWLH). Most studies focus on sexual dysfunction, leaving aside the richer context of sexuality and sexual health, including the effect of age-related psychosocial and interpersonal changes on sexual health behaviors. Guided by the integrative biopsychosocial model and the sexual health model, this study explored the importance of sex and sexuality among OWLH to identify their sexual health and HIV prevention needs for program planning. A purposive sample (n = 50) of OWLH was selected from a parent study (n = 2052). We conducted 8 focus groups and 41 in-depth interviews with 50 African American and Latina OWLH aged 50-69 years old in three U.S. cities. The triangulation approach was used to synthesize the data. Six salient themes emerged: sexual pleasure changes due to age, sexual freedom as women age, the role of relationships in sexual pleasure, changes in sexual ability and sexual health needs, sexual risk behaviors, and ageist assumptions about older women's sexuality. We found that sexual pleasure and the need for intimacy continue to be important for OWLH, but that changing sexual abilities and sexual health needs, such as the reduction of sexual desire, as well as increased painful intercourse due to menopause-associated vaginal drying, were persistent barriers to sexual fulfillment and satisfaction. Particular interpersonal dynamics, including low perceptions of the risk of HIV transmission as related to gender, viral suppression, and habitual condomless sex with long-term partners without HIV transmission have resulted in abandoning safer sex practices with serodiscordant partners. These findings suggest that HIV prevention for OWLH should focus on how sexual function and satisfaction intersect with sexual risk. HIV prevention for OWLH should promote ways to maintain satisfying and safe sex lives among aging women. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 10 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 5 | 50% |
| Italy | 1 | 10% |
| France | 1 | 10% |
| Unknown | 3 | 30% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 8 | 80% |
| Scientists | 2 | 20% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 130 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 130 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Bachelor | 20 | 15% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 18 | 14% |
| Student > Master | 16 | 12% |
| Researcher | 13 | 10% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 11 | 8% |
| Other | 14 | 11% |
| Unknown | 38 | 29% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Nursing and Health Professions | 24 | 18% |
| Social Sciences | 21 | 16% |
| Psychology | 20 | 15% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 12 | 9% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 5 | 4% |
| Other | 5 | 4% |
| Unknown | 43 | 33% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 5. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 13 October 2017.
All research outputs
#6,306,566
of 23,298,349 outputs
Outputs from Archives of Sexual Behavior
#1,842
of 3,473 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#98,351
of 335,477 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Archives of Sexual Behavior
#31
of 46 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,298,349 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 72nd percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 3,473 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 29.1. This one is in the 46th percentile – i.e., 46% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 335,477 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 70% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 46 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 32nd percentile – i.e., 32% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.