000171802 001__ 171802
000171802 005__ 20260603114408.0
000171802 0247_ $$2doi$$a10.1007/s10389-026-02798-w
000171802 0248_ $$2sideral$$a149526
000171802 037__ $$aART-2026-149526
000171802 041__ $$aeng
000171802 100__ $$aCiviriain-San Miguel, Leticia
000171802 245__ $$aAttitudes towards the sexuality of older adults: a comparison between health and social care professionals and people aged 65 years and over
000171802 260__ $$c2026
000171802 5060_ $$aAccess copy available to the general public$$fUnrestricted
000171802 5203_ $$aBackground
Sexuality in older adults usually remains within the sphere of personal intimacy and rarely receives specific attention. Health and social care sectors play a key role in creating safe environments that facilitate its expression. Professionals’ attitudes influence the quality of care, while older people’s attitudes condition their experience of sexuality. This study aimed to compare attitudes towards sexuality in later life between health and social care professionals and people aged 65 years and over, as well as to analyse factors associated with attitudes among professionals.
Methods
A cross-sectional study (May 2022–December 2023) was conducted in Aragón (Spain), including 370 participants in the retired group and 333 in the socio-sanitary worker group. The Attitudes towards Sexuality in Old Age Questionnaire (CASV-14) and a sociodemographic questionnaire were administered. Descriptive analyses of CASV-14 scores were performed in both groups. In the socio-sanitary worker group, internal consistency, floor and ceiling effects, minimal detectable change, and regression models were analysed to explore predictors of attitudes.
Results
The retired group showed higher total CASV-14 scores than the socio-sanitary worker group (31.35 ± 7.30 vs. 27.19 ± 5.78; p 0.001), suggesting a greater presence of myths and limiting perceptions regarding sexuality in later life. Items related to chronic illness, medical treatments, and physiological changes were perceived as more limiting in both groups. The CASV-14 showed high internal consistency for the total score among socio-sanitary workers (Cronbach’s α = 0.888), with lower reliability in the rights and limitations dimension (α = 0.624). Multivariable analyses indicated that being a socio-sanitary professional and having a university education were associated with lower CASV-14 scores, whereas religious beliefs were associated with higher scores. However, the proportion of variance explained by the models was low.
Conclusions
Both the retired group and the socio-sanitary worker group showed generally favourable attitudes towards sexuality in later life, although the retired group reported more limiting perceptions. These findings highlight the importance of addressing sexuality as a key component of well-being in later life and support the need for educational initiatives aimed at reducing myths and strengthening professionals’ capacity to address sexual health in ageing populations.
000171802 540__ $$9info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess$$aby$$uhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es
000171802 655_4 $$ainfo:eu-repo/semantics/article$$vinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
000171802 700__ $$aSuarez-Serrano, Carmen
000171802 700__ $$aUsón-Lucea, Sonia
000171802 700__ $$aMeléndez-Oliva, Erika
000171802 700__ $$aSánchez-Romero, Eleuterio A.
000171802 700__ $$aCuenca-Zaldívar, Juan Nicolás
000171802 700__ $$0(orcid)0000-0001-5851-8855$$aMarcén-Román, Yolanda$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza
000171802 7102_ $$11003$$2027$$aUniversidad de Zaragoza$$bDpto. Anatom.Histolog.Humanas$$cArea Anatom.Embriol.Humana
000171802 773__ $$g(2026), [12 pp.]$$pJ. public health (Berl.)$$tJournal of public health (Berlin)$$x2198-1833
000171802 8564_ $$s1365180$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/171802/files/texto_completo.pdf$$yVersión publicada
000171802 8564_ $$s2574775$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/171802/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon$$xicon$$yVersión publicada
000171802 909CO $$ooai:zaguan.unizar.es:171802$$particulos$$pdriver
000171802 951__ $$a2026-06-03-11:05:39
000171802 980__ $$aARTICLE