How many seniors are having sex? Researchers from the International Longevity Center at University College London surveyed retirees, wading into the deep end of their sex lives to answer this question, and discovered older men are having more sex than older women.

In fact, one in every four men over the age of 85 and one in every 10 women reported some sexual activity during the past year, according to the Longevity Center. However, many of the women simply don’t give a hoot.

When asked “How often did you think about sex during the past month?” about a quarter of the men over the age of 65 answered “never.” By comparison, fully half the women in the same age group reported never thinking about sex. Looking to see how many seniors had a high sex drive, the researchers next asked survey participants whether they thought about sex every day. Here, they found 1 in every 7 men reported daily thoughts of sex compared to just 1 in every 52 women.

An important point for the ladies to remember is this: While the men, on average, think about sex and have sex more often than their female counterparts, the older women who often think about sex are likely to be making whoopee.

The Health Connection

“Undoubtedly, healthy individuals report both a higher sexual desire and more frequent sexual activities,” wrote the researchers in their blog post. “However, even after taking the role of health into account, we find that sexual desire — i.e. just thinking about sex often or very often — is the strongest driver for sexual activity in later life.”

Those who said sexual activity is "important" similarly had higher scores for psychological quality of life. Overall, the health status of seniors exerted the greatest impact on the quality of their lives.

Other silver adults say poor health interferes with their love lives. For instance, in one recent small-scale study of adults between the ages of 62 and 95, some participants commented that their sexuality had changed due to their partner’s health. While some were having less sex and less spontaneous sex, others were more open with their sexual relationship.

“Participants stated that they wished their or their partner’s physicians would discuss their sexual needs,” concluded the Fairfield University School of Nursing researchers who authored the study.