Aresin L
Z Alternsforsch. 1980;35(1):55-8.
In spite of the heterogenous composition of the two groups, the results regarding the different behaviour of men and women of advanced age are rather similar. The differences that do exist are, however, not genuine and sex-specific, rather they attributable to socio-cultural factors which have shaped the traditional sexual roles of men and women belonging to these age groups. In view of the changes that have taken place in contemporary society, we can expect that these differences will gradually disappear in the near future, as shown by the example of the younger generation. In spite of the frequent physical disorders and regressive changes developing in both sexes because of old age, the physiological situation must not be neglected. Even people of advanced age require a full psychological assessment as soon as they begin suffering from sexual disorders. Besides substitution therapy based on hormones, psychotherapy plays an important role in the treatment of such conditions. Since life expectancy continues to rise in all developed countries, the knowledge of the sexual behaviour of older people is becoming more and more important. The physician should, therefore, be conversant with the basic factors of this stage of life and enhance his knowledge on the sexuality of people of advanced age and related problems in order to be able to understand the problems of this group of people who have the same rights as young people, and to assist them, if help is required.
尽管这两组人的构成各不相同，但关于高龄男性和女性不同行为的研究结果相当相似。然而，确实存在的差异并非真正的、性别特有的差异，而是归因于社会文化因素，这些因素塑造了属于这些年龄组的男性和女性的传统性别角色。鉴于当代社会已经发生的变化，我们可以预期这些差异在不久的将来会逐渐消失，年轻一代的情况就是例证。尽管由于年老，两性都会经常出现身体疾病和退行性变化，但生理状况不容忽视。一旦老年人开始出现性功能障碍，就需要对他们进行全面的心理评估。除了基于激素的替代疗法外，心理治疗在这类病症的治疗中也起着重要作用。由于所有发达国家的预期寿命都在持续上升，了解老年人的性行为变得越来越重要。因此，医生应该熟悉这个生命阶段的基本因素，加强对老年人性行为及相关问题的了解，以便能够理解这群享有与年轻人同等权利的人的问题，并在需要时为他们提供帮助。
