Stacy Lindau, M.D., NORC Research Associate and Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Chicago’s Biological Sciences Division, was interviewed by MedPage Todayat the annual meeting of the American Geriatrics Society about findings from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP). Lindau noted that sexual activity is closely related to health and that "At any age, healthier people are more likely to report active sex lives."

The NSHAP includes a nationwide survey of more than 3,000 adults ages 57 to 85. The project is a collaboration of the University of Chicago and NORC, funded by the National Institutes on Aging. One groundbreaking development to come out of this survey is the use of field interviewers with no prior medical training to collect biomeasures and biomarkers (blood, saliva, weight, waist, height, touch, smell, taste, physical agility, and, for female participants, a vaginal swab). The project team and field interviewing team overcame many challenges to complete the first round of interviews with a response rate of more than 73 percent, very high considering the personal nature of some of the tests and questions