Women of all ages can become infected with HIV, including women over 50 years of age.
- One in four people infected with HIV in the United States is female.
- More than one in two new HIV diagnoses occur in people over 50 years of age.
Older women are more likely to be diagnosed with the disease later in life than younger women, possibly because they do not know they are at risk.
Being diagnosed at a later stage increases the risk of HIV-related disease and death from the disorder.
How does menopause affect HIV risk?
Women over 50 still have sex. A recent study found that one in two women over 50 reported having had sex in the past week. Because pregnancy is no longer a concern for postmenopausal women, they may not think about protecting their sex or talk about it with their partners or health care providers.
This means that women are less likely to use condoms to protect themselves from HIV and other sexually transmitted infections after menopause. However, perimenopausal women may be at higher risk of becoming infected with HIV. Hormonal changes can cause the vagina to become harder and drier, make vaginal tissue more prone to tearing, and increase the risk of HIV entering the body during sexual intercourse.
Some older women (and their health care providers) believe that health changes are caused by menopause when they could be caused by other causes.
For example, night sweats are a typical symptom of menopause, but they are also common in people with HIV infection.
HIV prevention during menopause and beyond
It’s never too late to protect yourself from HIV. Start taking these proactive steps:
- If you don’t know whether your partner has HIV, use a condom.
- Get tested for HIV
- Talk to your health care provider about pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a medication that can prevent HIV.
This training material was prepared with support from Merck.
