Evaluation of Midwifery and Nursing Students' Knowledge and Attitudes toward Sexuality in the Elderly

Background: Sexuality, one of the fundamental elements of the quality of life, important in maintaining human relationships and ensuring the feeling of being an integral part of society. Objective: This study aimed to determine the knowledge and attitudes of midwifery and nursing students, who will provide health care and counseling in future, about sexuality in the elderly. Design: This study used a cross-sectional and descriptive design. Methodology: This study was conducted between 01 March and 10 June 2017 on undergraduate students studying in the field of health. A total of 490 students who were at the school during data collection and agreed to participate in the study made up the study group. Results: Of the students, 276 (56.4%) thought that sexuality was a lifelong need, 358 (73.1%) thought that sexual health affected the quality of life of the individual, and 246 (50.2%) thought there was a prejudice among people that sexuality was dirty, ugly, and disgusting in old age. A statistically significant relationship was found between the school year of the students and "neglecting sexuality while taking a history from elderly patients" (χ2 = 94.757; p = 0.000). It was determined that first-year students mostly did not have an opinion on the subject and that the majority of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th-year students expressed opinion about the existence of this situation. Conclusions: It was found that as the school year of the students increased, their knowledge about sexuality in the elderly increased and their negative attitudes decreased and that negative attitudes towards sexuality in the elderly were more common among male students.