Sexual behaviour and diagnosis of people over the age of 50 attending a sexual health clinic.

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.