Researchers at the University of Chicago looked at original interviews with 3,000 elderly American men and women  and found that today’s elderly couples are having sex and are finding it satisfying. Participants were asked about their sexual activity in the previous year. 68 percent of men between 57 and 85 and 42 percent of women reported having sex last year, according to the study led by Edward Laumann, the George Herbert Mead Distinguished Service Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago.

The study appears in the current issue of The Journal of Sexual Medicine.

The study suggests that women may be more likely than men to report problems with their sex life. But men were more likely to say they weren’t interested in sex. Two common factors in sexual dysfunction and a decreased interest in sex were: urinary tract syndrome and the history of sexually transmitted diseases (STD). Men were more than five times as likely to report loss of their sexual interest if they have ever been diagnosed with a STD. Having an history of STS quadrupled a woman’s odds of reporting sexual pain and it tripled the odds of having lubrication problems.

Researchers suggested that the older people of today have a more open minded and positive attitude and men are now more open in talking about sexual failure.

“Sexual health is a harbinger of physical and mental health, and it plays an important role in the quality of life,” Laumann said. “Older people don’t just drop out of the picture. In general, if you’re healthy, you can be sexually active.”