Aim:

To analyze the correlation between the experiences of sexuality with the biosociodemographic variables and mental health of the elderly.

Methods:

This is a cross-sectional and correlational study carried out with 300 elderly people living in northeastern Brazil. Data about sexuality, assessed by the EVASI instrument, and about mental health, assessed with the SRQ-20 instrument, were collected between August and October 2020. For the data analysis, the Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis and Spearman correlation tests were used with a 95% confidence interval (p <0.05).

Results:

There was a statistical correlation between sexual intercourse and age group (p = 0.039). In addition, all dimensions of sexuality were associated with marital status (p<0.05) and were significantly correlated to all domains of mental health, showing weak and moderate, positive and negative correlations.

Conclusion:

The authors conclude that sexuality was significantly correlated with mental health, in such a way that the increase in sexual experiences reduces the symptoms of depressive-anxious mood, somatic symptoms, decrease in vital energy and depressive thoughts. These results point to the need to consider sexuality as a possible factor that improves the mental health of elderly citizens.