Knowledge and attitudes about sexuality in the elderly with HIV

Aguiar, Rosaline Bezerra; Leal, Márcia Carréra Campos; Marques, Ana Paula de Oliveira

doi:10.1590/1413-81232020256.18432018

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ARTICLE • Ciênc. saúde coletiva 25 (6) • June 2020 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1413-81232020256.18432018 copy

Knowledge and attitudes about sexuality in the elderly with HIV

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

This is a cross-sectional quantitative study carried out with 241 elderly diagnosed with HIV, assisted in the services of reference of Recife, Pernambuco State, Brazil. Knowledge and attitudes were evaluated through the Aging Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Scale (ASKAS). Senior men, participants with higher educational level, those without depressive symptoms and individuals diagnosed with HIV for more than 12 years have a higher level of knowledge about sexuality in old age. Conservative attitudes toward sexuality in aging have been strongly associated with women, illiterate participants, practicing evangelical and Catholic religions, and elderly diagnosed with HIV with less than 12 years. Elderly with less knowledge had more conservative attitudes regarding sexuality in aging (r = 0.42; p < 0.0001). Thus, it is essential to carry out health actions with the aim of improving knowledge and attitudes regarding sexuality in the elderly, paying particular attention to those who are most vulnerable to HIV infection.

Key words
Knowledge; Sexuality; Elderly; HIV

Variables	n	%
Gender
Male	151	62.66
Female	90	37.34
Marital status
Single	83	34.44
Married / with partner	74	30.71
Widower	45	18.67
Separated / divorced	39	16.18
Schooling
Illiterate	25	10.37
1-4 years	69	28.63
5-8 years	59	24.48
9-11 years	56	23.24
Above 11 years	32	13.28
Ethnicity/skin color
White	61	25.31
Black	33	13.69
Yellow	1	0.41
Brown	145	60.17
Indigenous	1	0.41
Religion
Roman Catholic	125	51.87
Evangelical	68	28.22
Spiritist	9	3.73
Other	9	3.73
No religion declared	30	12.45
Household composition (nº of relatives)
0	75	31.12
1	79	32.78
2	38	15.77
3	30	12.45
4	8	3.32
5	6	2.49
6	3	1.25
7	2	0.83
Origin of financial resources
No own income	0	0
Salary or formal activity	19	7.88
Retired and/or pensioner	38	15.77
Pensioner	156	64.73
Doesn't know	18	7.47
Did not answer	0	0
Retired or pensioner and with salary or formal activity	10	4.15
Contribution to household income
Totally	137	56.85
Partially	86	35.69
Does not contribute	18	7.47
Income (minimum wage)
0	15	6.22
< 1 minimum wage	27	11.20
De 1-2 minimum wages	134	55.60
De 3-4 minimum wages	36	14.94
> 4 minimum wages	29	12.03

Variables	n	%
Time of diagnosis
≤ 10 years	93	38.59
11-20	125	51.87
21-30	23	9.54
Comorbidities
No comorbidity	51	21.16
At least 1	190	78.84
Functional capacity
Total dependence	0	0
Severe dependence	1	0.41
Moderate dependence	15	6.22
Very light dependence	22	9.13
Independence	203	84.23
Depressive symptoms
Normal	162	67.22
Light depression	67	27.80
Severe depression	12	4.98

Variable	N	Knowledge					Attitude
Variable	N	Mean	Standard Deviation	Median	U/H	P-value	Mean	Standard Deviation	Median	U/H	P-value
Age (Categorized using the median)
<64 years	131	29.31	5.33	28	14380.0	0.299	14.53	5.66	13	14078.5	0.513
>64 years	110	30.33	6.05	29	14380.0	0.299	15.22	6.2	14	14078.5	0.513
Gender
Male	151	28.71	4.78	28	12539.5	0.002	13.95	5.29	12	12293.0	0.007
Female	90	31.56	6.59	30	12539.5	0.002	16.36	6.58	15.5	12293.0	0.007
Marital status
Single	83	30	5.97	28	3.32	0.342	14.98	5.55	15	0.71	0.869
Married or with partner	74	28.66	4.52	29			14.88	5.95	14
Widower	45	31.18	6.56	30			14.78	6.52	13
Separated or divorced	39	29.77	5.75	28			14.59	6.04	12
Schooling
Illiterate	25	36.8	6.24	38 c	50.08	< 0.001	19.76	6.15	21c	30.65	< 0.001
1-4 years	69	30.46	5.68	29 b			15.23	5.22	14 b
5-8 years	59	29.98	4.7	29 b			15.29	5.61	14 b
9-11 years	56	26.88	4.04	26 a			13.11	5.94	12 a
Above 11 years	32	27.47	4.11	26.5 a			12.41	5.29	11.5 a
Income
No income	15	29.53	4.27	28	6.66	0.153	13.67	6.59	12 ab	16.52	0.002
< 1 minimum wage	27	30.78	7.76	27			17.59	6.21	19 c
1-2 minimum wages	134	30.42	5.78	29			15.16	5.73	14bc
2-4 minimum wages	36	27.92	4.2	27			14.19	5.45	13ab
> 4 minimum wages	29	28.28	4.61	27			12.28	5.74	11a
Ethnicity/skin color
White	61	29.56	6.27	28	2.07	0.687	15.23	7.09	13	4.59	0.391
Black	33	30.12	5.93	29			16.39	6.76	16
Yellow	1	-	-	-			-	-	-
Brown	145	29.79	5.42	29			14.26	4.99	13
Indigenous	1	-	-	-			-	-	-
Religion
Roman Catholic	125	29.88	5.58	29 b	9.31	0.025	14.83	6.06	13 ab	9.66	0.020
Evangelical	68	30.76	5.88	29.5 b			16.04	5.6	15 a
Other	18	26.33	3.18	26 ab			13.61	7.33	10.5a
No religion declared	30	29.13	6.15	27.5 a			12.93	4.44	12 a
Functional capacity
Total dependence	0	-	-	-	5.39	0.175	-	-	-	5.70	0.147
Severe dependence	1	-	-	-			-	-	-
Moderate dependence	15	32.87	7.36	31			17.6	6.3	18
Very light dependence	22	29.23	5.35	28			15.18	6.66	13
Independence	203	29.56	5.51	28			14.56	5.75	13
Depressive symptoms
Normal	162	28.99	5.15	28 a	8.5	0.014	14.43	5.75	12.5	4.24	0.117
Light depression	67	30.85	5.84	30 b			15.33	6.1	14
Severe depression	12	34.33	8.53	33.5 b			17.75	6.43	18
Comorbidity
Absent	51	30.73	5.58	30	6894.5	0.101	15.76	6.27	15	6713.0	0.218
Present	190	29.52	5.7	28	6894.5	0.101	14.6	5.8	13	6713.0	0.218
Time of HIV diagnosis in years (categorized using the median)
≤ 12 years	131	30.4	5.7	29	12221.5	0.043	15.82	6.32	15	11923.5	0.009
> 12 years	110	29,02	5,59	28	12221.5	0.043	13,69	5,18	12	11923.5	0.009

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[1] Collaborations

RB Aguiar participated in the conception and design of the study, collection, analysis and interpretation of data, writing of the article and final approval of the manuscript. MCC Leal participated in the design and orientation of the research, critical review of the text and final approval of the manuscript. APO Marques participated in the relevant critical review of the intellectual content and final approval of the version to be published.