SEXUALIDADE E QUALIDADE DE VIDA DO IDOSO: DESAFIOS CONTEMPORÂNEOS E REPERCUSSÕES PSICOSSOCIAIS

AUTOR(ES)
FONTE

IBICT - Instituto Brasileiro de Informação em Ciência e Tecnologia

DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

14/08/2012

RESUMO

This thesis aimed at analyzing the relationship between sexuality and quality of life of elderly people. To this end, it was apprehended the social representations of sexuality elaborated by elderly people, with the purpose to obtain the construction and validation of a research instrument aimed at measuring sexual experiences at this stage of their development. It was also objectified to measure the quality of life of elderly people to correlate these, two constructs. In order to achieve these objectives, three studies were carried out, the first referred to the apprehension of the social representations of sexuality as a guide for the construction of a measured scale. It was done 30 interviews with elderly who attend a support group in João Pessoa - PB. The data originated from this technique were submitted to Thematic Content Analysis and to the software ALCESTE. The representational contents presented the constituent elements of sexuality such as: the changes resulting from the aging process, the importance of sexual experiences for the elderly, as well as, the negative perception of these practices by society as a whole. The analysis obtained through ALCESTE generated four distinct classes, in which it was appreherended the meaning of sexuality for the elderly, confirming the previous analysis.The classes were named as: Conception/ Meaning of Sexuality in Old Age; Importance of Sexuality; natural aspects of sexuality and Lack of Sexual Experiences in Old Age. Based on the results it was developed the items that composed the initial version of the Affective and Sexual Experiences Scale for Elderly (ASESE), comprising 40 items covering topics related to sexual experiences. It is a Likert scale, with five answers choices ranging from never to always. In the study two it was validated the scale before mentioned, with the aid of PASW (Predictive Analytics Software).This study counted on 200 elderly men and women, aged older than 60 years who were married or have a steady partner, since the items assess sexual experiences of the elderly couple. Due to the validation procedure, two items were excluded and the final scale comprised 38 items. The psychometric parameters proved to be satisfactory, and its final version consisted of three dimensions: Sex Act, Affective Relationships, and Physical and Social Adversity. The study three was done the measurement of sexuality and quality of life of the elderly, as well as, the correlation analysis between the two constructs. This study counted on 200 elderly who answered the final version of ASESE and the WHOQOL-Old an instrument to evaluate Quality of Life, developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) especially for the elderly. It was found that the highest scores in ASESE were achieved in the items regarding the Affective Relations. Regarding the WHOQOL-old, it was observed that the facet activities past, present and future revealed the highest score, then the facet Social Participation, and it is important to note that higher scores indicate better quality of life. The correlation between sexuality and quality of life of elderly proved to be significant and positive. The construction of an instrumment psychometrically validated to measure sexual experiences of the elderly is characterized as an important achievement, besides of the proof of correlation between sexuality and quality of life of elderly. It is believed that this study may promote reflections and changes in attitudes concerning sexuality in the elderly as well as demonstrate its importance for the quality of life of this population.

ASSUNTO(S)

envelhecimento sexualidade idoso qualidade de vida representações sociais psicologia social aging sexuality elderly quality of life social representations

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

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