A recent study, based on data from the 2005–2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), has found that women who rarely engage in sexual activity have a 70% higher risk of dying compared to those who have sex at least once per week. Additionally, individuals with depression who had sex much less than once per week had a 197% higher risk of dying than those who had sex around once per week. These findings were published in the Journal of Psychosexual Health.
Frequent sex has been shown to offer numerous health benefits. It helps reduce stress and improve mood through the release of endorphins and oxytocin. It can also boost the immune system, making the body more resistant to infections and illnesses.
Regular sexual activity promotes cardiovascular health by increasing heart rate and circulation. It enhances sleep quality due to the release of the hormone prolactin, which is associated with relaxation. Frequent sex can also improve intimacy and strengthen relationships, contributing to overall emotional well-being.
A previous study highlighted that the critical frequency of sex seems to be one intercourse per week when relationship duration, gender, and age are considered. Frequencies greater than once per week do not appear to produce greater well-being outcomes, but there is a significant difference in well-being between individuals having sex once per week and those having it less frequently.
Another study reported that decreased sexual activity was related to adverse health outcomes for both men and women, and a relationship between erectile dysfunction and cancer in older men was also found.
The current study, led by Srikanta Banerjee and his colleagues, aimed to explore the relationship between sexual frequency and all-cause mortality, i.e., the likelihood that a person will die. They analyzed data from the NHANES, a program of the National Center for Health Statistics designed to evaluate the health of adults in the United States using consolidated data from interviews and physical exams.
The study sample included 14,542 noninstitutionalized U.S. adults aged between 20 and 59 years, with an average age of 46 years. The researchers used data on all-cause mortality (whether the study participant died during the follow-up period, by December 2015), depression (measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire 9), sexual frequency (participants were asked, “In the past 12 months, about how many times have you had vaginal or anal sex?”), obesity, and various demographic factors.
The results showed that younger participants tended to have sex more often. Individuals with low frequencies of sex tended to have elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, an indicator of inflammation, were more likely to have never smoked, to be more educated, and to be depressed. Black participants were slightly more often among those with high sex frequencies, while Hispanic and White participants were more frequent in the group having sex rarely. Overall, 95% of participants aged 20-59 years had sex more than 12 times per year, and 38% had sex more than once per week.
Women who had sex rarely were 70% more likely to have died during the follow-up period compared to women who had sex more often. The researchers examined the link between frequency of sex and death separately among individuals who had sex less often than once per week and those who had it more than once per week.
Among individuals having sex less than once per week, participants with depression and low sexual frequency (i.e., had sex much less than once per week) were 197% more likely to die than those who had depression and high sexual frequency (i.e., had sex once per week or close to that).
When the same analysis was done on individuals having sex more than once per week, there was no association between the frequency of sex and the risk of death. This supports the idea that having sex at least once per week might be critical for achieving the sex-related health benefits.
“In an ethnically diverse population, we found that low sexual frequency can lead to three times increased overall mortality, even after controlling for health and demographic factors. Consistent with our findings, sexual activity is important for overall cardiovascular health possibly due to reduction of heart rate variability and blood flow increase. Public health interventions should be designed taking into consideration sexual health,” the study authors concluded.
The study sheds light on the links between how often a person has sex and the likelihood of dying. However, it is important to note that the study design does not allow for cause-and-effect conclusions. While it is possible that having sex improves health, it is also possible that people in poor health are less able to have sex, creating the association. Additionally, the study did not examine other aspects of sexual health, such as sexual satisfaction or the quality of sexual relationships, which could also play significant roles in overall well-being. Future research could benefit from exploring these additional dimensions of sexual health to provide a more comprehensive understanding.
The study,“Connection Between Depression, Sexual Frequency, and All-cause Mortality: Findings from a Nationally Representative Study,” was authored by Srikanta Banerjee, Peter Anderson, and W. Sumner Davis.