Canadian baby boomers shirk safe sex
http://www.cmaj.ca/earlyreleases/16nov10-canadian-baby-boomers-shirk-safe-sex.dtl
November 16, 2010
by Lauren Vogel
With little sexual health information targeted toward aging baby
boomers, Canada's free love generation remains "woefully ignorant"
that they are at risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections
(STIs), experts say.
Many boomers are shirking the safe sex practices they taught their
children, largely under the misconception that their age somehow
exempts them from contracting STIs, such as hepatitis B, says Dr.
Morris Sherman, chairman of the Canadian Liver Foundation.
According to a recent online survey conducted by the foundation, 70%
of boomers with children said they tell their kids to use protection
during sex, but 16% admit they don't always practice what they preach
(www.liver.ca/Liver_News/livernews10051001.aspx).
"When you're 45 or 50, the fear of pregnancy is no longer there, so
many people think, 'I'm not gallivanting around having sex with large
numbers of people, so my risk of disease is low.' That's just not the
case," says Sherman. "STIs are on the rise among baby boomers, just
as we're seeing a decrease in condom use."
More than half of survey respondents weren't concerned about
contracting STIs, while one in five said they don't use condoms as
frequently, since pregnancy is less of a concern.
"It's not because all boomers are married and monogamous, either,"
says Alexander McKay, research coordinator for the Sex Information
and Education Council of Canada.
Many boomers are returning to the dating scene following divorce or
the death of a spouse, McKay says, while relaxed social mores mean
even married boomers may have multiple partners (with or without
their spouse's knowledge).
"If you examine condom use from teenage years onwards, you find a
very consistent decline in use with age," he says. "Even among people
who are single and have multiple partners in a year."
Nearly a third of unmarried boomers surveyed admitted to having
unprotected sex with a new partner since turning 40.
Male boomers were also found to be more open to risky dating habits
than their female counterparts. Some 40% of men said they were more
open to a one-night stand since turning 40, compared to only 5% of
women. Likewise, 37% of men said they were looking for a "good time"
rather than a serious relationship now that they were older, compared
to 18% of women.
"Baby boomers are transitioning from one relationship to another and
are having unprotected sex with multiple partners, but there's a
persistent belief that STIs are a young person's problem," says McKay.
While young people continue to account for the highest reported rates
of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis, the rate among older adults
has risen in recent years, according to the Public Health Agency of
Canada. Notably, men over the age of 60 have experienced a "dramatic"
rise in the rate of reported cases of gonorrhea since 1999
(www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/std-mts/report/sti-its2008/index-eng.php).
"And that may not even come close to representing the true burden,
because you can't report a positive result if a person doesn't get
tested," says McKay.
Many boomers don't know that most cases of STIs are asymptomatic, he
says. That means they may not bother getting screened or asking new
partners to be screened so long as they seem healthy.
While boomers are aware of the health risks posed by HIV/AIDS, McKay
says the associated health risks of contracting other STIs are taken
less seriously.
Hepatitis A, B and C infections, for example, are "not on the radar
at all," says Sherman. Only one in four boomers surveyed knew
hepatitis could cause extreme fatigue, jaundice or death.
"A lot of that stems from the limited sex education baby boomers
received in their youth," says McKay, citing the traditional emphasis
placed on condoms as being primarily a means for preventing
pregnancy, rather than disease. "It's not that education programs we
provide youth today are perfect by any stretch of the imagination,
but today's generation of youth tend to be better informed around
sexual health than their baby boomer predecessors."
It's also more difficult to reach boomers with sexual health
programs, he says. "We're accustomed to reaching youth with
information about the importance of condom use and that's facilitated
through programs in high schools and college campuses. Even for
seniors, there's a point of contact in retirement communities or
other dedicated programming."
South of the border, rising STI rates among seniors have prompted sex
educators in New York City, New York, and San Francisco, California,
to target sexual health classes to retirement communities. But in
Canada there's a dearth of sexual health information, let alone
classes, dedicated to more elderly generations. "Even the pictures we
associate with sexual education campaigns almost always depict young
people. They don't depict grey hairs," says Sherman.
McKay says social media campaigns could be an effective tool for
disseminating the message. The Society of Obstetricians and
Gynaecologists of Canada, for example, have included a section on
aging and sex on their SexualityandU.ca website
(http://www.sexualityandu.ca/home_e.aspx).
An effective campaign, though, would require more engagement than
just posting statistics online as many boomers may not realize they
need a refresher course on sexual health, McKay adds.
Family doctors could play a more active role, he says. "Physicians
are responsible for so many different aspects of a patient's health
that sexuality issues, particularly with adult patients, can
sometimes fall to the wayside. But they're ideally placed to address
these issues, not least because baby boomers lend a lot of
credibility to their family doctors, and it works with the way they
have traditionally received sex education."
Given that health care costs associated with boomers are exploding,
it's in society's interest to provide them better sexual health
education, McKay argues. "Otherwise, the taxpayers will end up paying
for the negative health outcomes of leaving this unchecked."
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