IT GETS BETTER

Study Finds That When It Comes To Sex, Your Best Days Are Still Ahead Of You

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Great news, guys! You can stop freaking out so much about growing older. A new study has found that gay and bi men over 65 are more happy with their sex lives than any other age group.

That’s according to the biggest sex survey of gay and bi men in England, conducted by Sigma Research at the London School of Hygiene and Topical Medicine on behalf of UK sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust.

15,360 men participated in the study, which was led by Dr. Ford Hickson, a lecturer in health promotion.

Related: Science Confirms The Bigger The Belly, The Better The Lover

Now, let’s take a deep dive into some of the findings, shall we?

According to the study, sexual satisfaction seems to grow with age. Here are the proportions of gay and bi men who claim to be pleased with their sex lives separated by age:

  • 15-19: 60 percent happy
  • 20-24: 63 percent happy
  • 25-29: 62 percent happy
  • 30-34: 58 percent happy
  • 35-39: 55 percent happy
  • 40-44: 58 percent happy
  • 45-49: 54 percent happy
  • 50-54: 55 percent happy
  • 55-59: 56 percent happy
  • 60-64: 64 percent happy
  • 65+: 70 percent happy

Researchers found that the most common reason for guys not being happy with their sex lives was “I’d like a boyfriend or a lover or a partner.” Other reasons included “I’m not having enough sex with the person I’m with at the moment” or wanting a wider range of sexual partners. People also expressed concern about picking up and passing on sexual infections.

The study also found that gay and bi guys are getting tested for HIV more regularly than in the past. 77 percent of respondents said they have been tested for HIV. That’s up from 72 percent in 2010. And 55 percent said they have tested in the past 12 months, up from 36 percent in 2010.

Related: “Straight” Guys Are Having More Bisexual Sex Than Ever Before, Study Finds

But there’s still work to be done, because about a quarter of gay and bi men say they have never been tested for HIV, and one third of sexually active gay men reported having unprotected anal sex with at least one non-steady partner in the past year.

And then there’s the ever growing trend of chemsex.

Seven percent of respondents said they have taken mephedrone, GBH/GBL and/or crystal meth in the past month, and 42 percent of HIV-positive men said they felt alcohol and drugs played a role in contracting the virus.

“Nationally, chemsex isn’t very common,” Dr. Hickson tells Gay Star News. “But it’s very concentrated in big cities and in particular groups of friends and social networks. So it’s perfectly common for a gay man for everyone they know to be involved in it.”

He continues: “They tend not to approach sexual health clinics because they think sexual health services don’t know anything about drug and drug services won’t know anything about sex. So we need to bring those two things together because the potential for harm is very high for people doing it.”

Related: STUDY: Young Men Suck At Sex, Bottoming Doesn’t Hurt, And 1 in 2 Guys Bareback

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