Sexual well-being among older adults in China (SWELL): protocol for a multicenter cross-sectional study.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Wang, Bingyi Peng, Xin Liang, Bowen Fu, Leiwen Tian, Tian Liu, Jiewei Li, Yuwei Li, Xinyi Wang, Shihao Zheng, Weiran Xiao, Xin Shi, Tongxin Cao, Gaozhou Ouyang, Lin Wang, Ying Tucker, Joseph Tang, Weiming Wu, Dan Meng, Xiaojun Yu, Maohe Wu, Guohui Cai, Yong Zou, Huachun
Copyright Year	2023
Abstract	IntroductionExisting studies on sexual health generally focus on younger populations, while the sexual well-being of older adults has received insufficient attention. This protocol describes the design of a study on sexual well-being and its correlates among older adults in China.Methods and analysisWe present the protocol for a multicentre observational study to investigate sexual well-being among Chinese older adults (SWELL). Eligible participants are men and women aged 50 years and older from East, West, South and North China, including older adults living in the community and older adults living with HIV. A multistage sampling approach is used in the SWELL Study. We will collect a questionnaire about sexual health (sexual knowledge, sexual attitude, sexual behaviours, sexually transmitted infections, etc). Blood specimens will be tested for sex hormones (estradiol for women, testosterone for men), biochemical items (eg, cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, urea, creatinine and uric acid) and syphilis (determined by toluidine red unheated serum test and Treponema pallidum particle agglutination test). The primary analysis will elucidate the current status of sexual health among older adults in China and its correlates. Secondary analyses will compare sexual well-being among older adults in four regions across China. Approximately 3540 older adults will be recruited into the SWELL Study.Ethics and disseminationThis study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University (approval number SYSU-PHS[2019]006). Verbal informed consent will be obtained from all participants before any study procedure. Data will be anonymised, and participants will not be identified through any data, transcripts or publications. Findings from the SWELL Study will be disseminated widely through peer-reviewed scientific journals and at national and international conferences.
Journal	BMJ Open
Volume Number	13
PubMed Central reference number	PMC9887691
Issue Number	1
PubMed reference number	36717139
e-ISSN	20446055
DOI	10.1136/bmjopen-2022-067338
Language	English
Publisher	BMJ Publishing Group
Publisher Date	2023-01-30
Publisher Place	London
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
Subject Keyword	SEXUAL MEDICINE EPIDEMIOLOGY HIV & AIDS Public health
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Medicine