Swinger Shock: Older Age No Defense Against STDs

June 24, 2010— -- Randi is a "swinger."

Randi, who did not want to use her real name, said she is no stranger to swinger parties -- gatherings where people engage in social sex with others.

Risky sex is nothing new, of course. But Randi is 52 -- and she said that at the parties she attends, safe sex is usually not the order of the day. Specifically, she said older men are not likely to use condoms.

"He doesn't use one with his wife, and he assumes the woman he's with is clean, because, 'Hey, she's at a middle class party,'" Randi said.

And as couples get to know each other, they tend to trust that everyone is "clean," she added.

Randi recalled being at a party once and she asked one of the men she met if he had condoms. At another dinner party later on, she mentioned this encounter to another couple.

"They were speechless, because no one had ever challenged this unspoken norm before."

A new study suggests that older swingers, as a group, should be considered high risk for sexually transmitted infections.

Researchers from The Netherlands found that older swingers made up 12 percent of clients who visited an outpatient sexual health clinic.

Swingers older than 45 had higher rates of infection than men who have sex with men, heterosexuals and prostitutes -- groups traditionally considered high risk. Infections were most prevalent among older female swingers.

Based on their findings, the researchers concluded that, "[s]wingers, like other groups with risk behaviors, need to be identified and treated as a risk group in STI prevention and care." Right now, they are not classified as high risk.