Pathways to help-seeking for sexual difficulties in older adults: qualitative findings from the third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3)

Background Older adults are at an increased risk of sexual difficulties due to ageing and chronic health conditions. While they experience barriers to seeking and receiving help for sexual difficulties there is a dearth of research about the help-seeking journey.

Objective To explore decision-making in context; particularly, the reasons why older adults do, or do not, seek help for sexual difficulties.

Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 men and 12 women aged 58–75 who reported having a health condition, disability or medication that had affected their sex life in the last year. Participants were part of the third British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3). Data were analysed thematically.

Results Help-seeking was rarely a predictable or linear process. Participants tended to wait and see if the sexual difficulty got better on its own or improved as a result of lifestyle changes. An often-lengthy period of thinking, researching and planning could end with a decision to seek professional help, to not seek help, or do nothing for now. A significant barrier was concern about the interaction of medicines prescribed for the sexual difficulty with those already taken for chronic health conditions. Patient fear of not being taken seriously and doctor reticence to ask thwarted potential conversations. Help-seeking journeys often ended without resolution, even when professional help was sought.

Conclusions To give patients and practitioners permission to raise the topic, suggestions include providing patients with a pre-consultation card which lists topics they would like to talk about, including sexual issues.