Most Italians enjoy a fulfilling sex life well into their old age, according to a survey issued on Friday.
The poll, presented at a conference here on aging issues, found that 32% of women and 31% of men aged over 60 made love "regularly" with their partners while 10% of men and 2% of women had sex "all the time".
A further 43% of women and 37% of men make love "sometimes", the survey said.
The male respondents revealed a more romantic mindset than the female ones, with 55% declaring that they always felt in love compared to 36% of women.
More than 60% of the men also said they believed they made their partners feel at the centre of their attention.
Almost 65% of male respondents said they often or always demonstrated their attraction for their wives or girlfriends by kissing them, against 47% of women.
The research, carried out by top Florence sexologist Roberta Giommi, revealed that the overwhelming majority of over-60-year-olds shunned drugs such as Viagra as a way to improve their sex lives.
Almost 90% of women and 83% of men said they never resorted to pills.
In another unexpected result, half of all male respondents said they never masturbated compared to 30% of the women.
The survey also questioned the pensioners about sexual attraction towards younger people.
Two thirds of the women said they never fancied young men while just over half the males said they never or rarely felt sexually attracted to young women.
