Sexual life and self-esteem in married elderly

The elderly population in South Korea is increasing. But traditionally in Korea, there is a tendency for the elderly to be cautious and sensitive to how their children view them, and younger generations tend to consider elderly sexuality to be a subject of taboo. Nevertheless, a person's sexual life is a general condition that affects the body, mental health and personality. Therefore, it is important to examine the relationship between the actual conditions of sexual life of elderly and self-esteem during old age. Sexual life was important for 38.5% of the research subjects and very important for 23.7%. Sexual partners were spouses for 93.4%. The self-esteem range was 20–38 with an average of 28.23. Those who were maintaining a sexual life had significantly higher self-esteem than those who were not (t = 2.222, p = 0.028). Those who felt very satisfied with their current sexual life had a significantly higher self-esteem than those who did not (F = 2.824, p = 0.028). The results show that it is important to have sexual life in late life. It will be necessary to develop and apply programs that will actively support elderly sexual life, as well as continue research in this area.