A new study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine finds that despite some complications that menopause may cause in the bedroom, most women at this stage in their life will still be sexually active.
Over a span of four years, researchers asked 354 already sexually active women aged 40 to mid-60 about their menopausal status and physical fitness level. In the fourth year, they were asked more specific questions about their sex lives - how strong their sex drive was, how easy or difficult it was to reach orgasm, whether they felt pain during intercourse, and if they had difficulty with arousal or vaginal dryness.
After four more years, about 85 percent of the women continued to be sexually active - mostly women who were white, thinner and felt that sex was important.
Dr. Holly Thomas, one of the study's authors and a general internal medicine fellow at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, said in a statement that how often women have sex depends on how they prioritize it.
"Women who felt that sex was highly important were about three times as likely to continue having sex as women who thought it was a little or not important."
However, the report also says that the women scored poorly on the sexual function test, meaning they may have significant physical difficulties with sex.
Thomas explained it could be because of the inaccuracy of the test, which was designed for premenopausal women, or because the test doesn't take into account those women who do more kissing and touching than actual intercourse.
This was not surprising to one expert who was not involved in the study.
"I think it resonates with what many of us have thought all along," said Dr. Margery Gass, an obstetrician/gynecologist at the Cleveland Clinic, in Ohio.
