Teach middle aged divorcees about safe sex just like teens

MIDLIFE divorcees starting new relationships are taking risks with their sexual health as they are too embarrassed to discuss contraception.

Now experts have recommended adapting high school-style lessons in safe sex to make them more ‘age-sensitive’.

A study found almost three-quarters of middle-aged divorcees had had unprotected sex in the past year – and only one in 20 had visited a sexual health clinic.

University of Glasgow researchers looked at more than 500 men and women aged 40-59 whose marriage or major relationship had ended within the past five years.

They discovered that middle-aged men had a ‘particular resistance’ to using condoms.

Dr Ruth Lewis, research fellow at the university’s MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, led the research.

She said: ‘Many people enter relationships in midlife, but the over-40s are often neglected in sexual health promotion despite increases in sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

‘We asked people in their 40s and 50s who had recently ended a long-term relationship to tell us how they perceived the risk of STIs with new partners.

‘Challenges included difficulties talking about testing or condoms in midlife, and sexual health services perceived to be focused on young people.’

The team analysed previously unpublished data from a UK wide lifestyle survey, Natsal-3. Of the 528 men and women, 12 per cent of men and 9 per cent of women had at least one new partner in the past year.

However, only a quarter of them said they had practised safe sex and only around 5 per cent admitted seeking advice from a clinic.

Sexually transmitted infections are on the rise among middle-aged Scots. Rates of chlamydia, the most common STI, fell from 18,051 cases in 2009 to 16,322 cases in 2018. But cases have soared from 498 to 816 among those over 40.

Interviews with 19 of the participants said they did not perceive themselves as at risk of STIs and had developed the habit of not using condoms because of previous long-term monogamous relationships.

They also assessed their new partner’s likelihood of carrying an STI based on factors such as their ‘reputation’ or ‘appearance and perceived wealth’, instead of discussing the issue.

With women no longer so fertile, or having gone through the menopause, the lack of pressure to prevent an unwanted pregnancy led to a loss of ‘motivation to use condoms’.

The study states: ‘Condoms were commonly described by women and men as embarrassing to discuss and use with new midlife partners.

‘A possible unintended consequence of sexual health initiatives’ focus on younger people is the impression that these messages are irrelevant to older adults.

‘Age-specific campaigns may be needed.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘NHS boards provide sexual health services to support everyone to take responsibility for their own sexual health, and they can provide testing and other services for those who are sexually active.’

Ian Green, chief executive of the Terrence Higgins Trust, said: ‘Sexual health campaigns are often targeted at younger people and the needs of older people haven’t had the same visibility. That has to change.’

‘Irrelevant to older adults’