Unprotected Sex on the Rise by Older Adults with HIV/AIDS

The commercial shows a couple in their 20s watching a movie on the couch. There is a tub of popcorn between them and an obvious sexual tension in the air. They reach for the popcorn at the same time and their hands touch. The next thing you see is layer upon layer of clothing being thrown off as the view changes to behind the couch with a close-up of an open condom wrapper. Campaigns marketing the use of condoms to prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases are usually geared towards the younger generation. After all, is this not the demographic of those who need the most education? Not always, according to a recent study by researchers from Ohio University.

Of those older adults aged 50 or over who is sexually active, one out of every three that is infected with HIV admits to having unprotected sex. In a study of over 250 adults in this age range, those who still considered themselves sexually active were usually male, utilizing the sex-enhancing drug Viagra and in a committed relationship. In fact, it is drugs like Viagra which have made it easier for adults over the age of 50 to maintain a healthy and active sexual lifestyle. Reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that in 2003 in the United States, 90,000 older adults were living with AIDS. Their studies also point out that by 2015, this number will grow to account for half of all AIDS cases in the nation due to the increased lifespan of HIV infected individuals.

The study from Ohio shows that of the older adults who are infected with HIV, approximately 38% still consider themselves sexually active. Travis Lovejoy, a graduate student at Ohio University who worked on this research says, “Those who are more likely to engage in riskier behavior – for example, those who are using drugs – are more likely to have unprotected sex. What we don’t know yet is whether these individuals are in a monogamous relationship with someone else who is HIV positive and believe there is no risk of infection.”

It is from those HIV-infected adults who are still considered sexually active that the one-third data comes from. This is due to the fact that not all of these adults infected with HIV are actually sexually active. In fact, if you were to do a percentage of all older adults living with HIV that have unprotected sex, it would only account for 13%. However, this still poses a problem since unprotected sex by those who are HIV-positive equates to higher rates of transmitting the infection. Because of this, the Ohio study recommends that instead of marketing safe sex campaigns to only the younger generation, more effort needs to be made in targeting older adults as well. This study is a very real demonstration that AIDS/HIV is not only an epidemic amongst the younger generation…no age group is immune to transmitting and acquiring this virus.