Am J Psychiatry 1990; 147:766-771
Copyright © 1990 by American Psychiatric Association
Healthy aging and male sexual function
RC Schiavi, P Schreiner-Engel, J Mandeli, H Schanzer and E Cohen
Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029.
The authors examined the effect of age on sexual function and behavior and
on nocturnal penile tumescence in 65 healthy married men aged 45 to 74
years. There was a significant negative relation between age and sexual
desire, arousal, and activity and an increasing prevalence of sexual
dysfunction with age but no age difference in sexual enjoyment and
satisfaction. Significant age-related decreases in frequency, duration, and
degree of nocturnal penile tumescence were found. Sexual desire, arousal,
coital frequency, and prevalence of erectile problems correlated with
nocturnal penile tumescence measures. The authors discuss the relevance of
these findings for the understanding of sexual function in aging men.
