Sexuality and quality of life

The purpose of this research was to explore the relationships between sexual activity and intimacy and quality of life (QOL) of older adults. The authors' research question was "To what extent do age, gender, marital status, health status, education, satisfaction with personal relationships, sexual activity, and satisfaction with intimacy explain older adults' ratings of QOL?" A secondary analysis was conducted using results from a cross-sectional survey. Data were available from a convenience sample of 426 individuals living in British Columbia, Canada, who volunteered to complete the questionnaire. Instruments included the WHOQOL-100, WHOQOL-OLD, and a demographic data sheet. It was found that the strongest contributors to the variance of overall QOL were satisfaction with personal relationships, followed by health status and sexual activity. Age, gender, marital status, and education were not significant. The implications for gerontological nurses include the need to support personal relationships for older adults, to encourage health promotion, and to ensure sexuality is discussed with older adults.