女人年过四十更“性福”

Women grow increasingly satisfied with their sex lives after they turn 40, a new study suggests.

For some, that heightened satisfaction comes from having great sex; for others, it stems from the fact that while their sexual activity has decreased, so has their desire, the survey showed.

The researchers surveyed a group of women between ages 40 and 100, with a median age of 67. Half of the responders said they were sexually active, and most of those women said they were able to become aroused, maintain lubrication and achieve orgasm during sex, even after the age of 80.

Moreover, among sexually active women, those who were below age 55 or above 80 were the most likely to report satisfaction with their ability to achieve orgasms.

"I was surprised by how many people were completely satisfied over the age of 80," said study researcher Elizabeth Barrett-Connor. The number of women who weren't sexually active but still expressed satisfaction surprised her as well. "I think there's a whole range of reasons people might be sexually satisfied," she said.

The study was the first of its size to focus exclusively on the sex lives of healthy women, a shift from previous efforts that had centered on studying women with sexual dysfunction, or tested the effects of hormone therapy on women's sex lives, Barrett-Connor said.

The researchers mailed a questionnaire to 1,303 women who had participated in the Rancho Bernardo Study, a survey of people in a suburban California community that has been ongoing since 1972. Of these women, 806 responded to questions about sex, "a very high participation rate for a study that asks very personal questions," Barrett-Connor said. "We have been studying this population for many years, and they trust us."

More than half of all women surveyed said they were very or moderately satisfied with their sex life. The percentage of women who described themselves as sexually satisfied increased with age. Almost half of the women over age 80 said they were always or almost always sexually satisfied.

It may be that those who are not sexually active "have achieved sexual satisfaction through touching, caressing, or other intimacies that have developed over the course of a long relationship," according to the study.

一项新研究表明，女人年过四十以后对性生活越来越满意。

研究显示，对某些人而言，“性福感”来自美妙的性生活，而对其他人来说，“性福感”增加是因为她们的性欲随着性生活的减少而减少。

研究人员调查了年龄在40岁至100岁之间的一组女性，她们的平均年龄为67岁。半数应答者称她们依然有性生活，其中大多数女性称自己的性欲能够被激发，并能在性生活中保持阴道湿润，达到高潮，甚至过了80岁也能做到。

而且，那些性活跃的女性当中，年龄在55岁以下或80岁以上的女性最有可能对自己达到性高潮的能力感到满意。

该研究的研究人员伊丽莎白•巴雷特-康纳说：“这么多人在过了80岁之后还很‘性福’，这让我很惊讶。”那些过了性活跃期但依然表示“性福”的女性人数之多也让她感到吃惊。“我认为有一系列可能导致人们‘性福’的原因。”

巴雷特-康纳说，这是首个专门关注健康女性性生活的大规模研究，不同于以往将研究重点放在性功能障碍的女性身上，或测试激素治疗对女性性生活影响的研究。

研究人员向1303位参与兰乔伯纳多研究的女性邮寄了调查问卷，被调查人群居住在加州市郊的一个社区中，该社区从1972年开始存在至今。这些女性中，有806人对有关性的问题做了答复。巴雷特-康纳说：“这一调查问的是非常私人的问题，然而参与率却很高。我们研究这一人群已有多年，所以她们信任我们。”

超过半数的被调查女性称，她们对自己的性生活“十分满意”或“比较满意”。认为自己“性福”的女性比例随着年龄的增长而增加。80岁以上的女性有近半数称自己总是或几乎总是感到“性福”。

该研究称，这可能是因为那些不再性活跃的女性“通过触摸、爱抚或长期感情关系中产生的其他亲密行为来获得性满足”。

Vocabulary:

lubrication: 润滑

orgasm: 性高潮

sexual dysfunction: 性功能障碍