A recent study by FAIR Health has uncovered a startling trend in sexually transmitted disease (STD) diagnoses among older adults, with a 4.8 percent increase observed from 2020 to 2023. Highlighting the data is a significant rise of 23.8 percent in STD diagnoses among patients aged 65 and older, marking the largest surge across all age groups. Factors behind this vast difference include changing sexual norms, lack of awareness, and less frequent use of protective measures compared to younger generations. The findings are based on analysis of over 47 billion commercial healthcare claim records. The statistic also indicates notable increases among patients aged 55 to 64, up by 16.2 percent. The fastest-growing STD diagnoses include syphilis, which surged by 29.4 percent, gonorrhea by 16.8 percent, and HIV and AIDS by 14.1 percent over the study period. Moreover, patients aged 65 and older saw a remarkable 32.2 percent increase in human papillomavirus (HPV) diagnoses. Of particular concern is the disparity in diagnosis rates between genders. Male patients experienced a significant 59.2 percent rise in gonorrhea cases, whereas female diagnoses declined by 19.3 percent. One of the reasons behind this difference is said to anatomical. Typically, anatomical variations in the urethra between males and females contribute to lower prevalence of gonorrhea among women, as the female urethra is shorter than in males. The data also shows that the cases of syphilis in male have increased by 22.9 percent, where there was a 46.5 percent rise among females. Commenting on the findings, FAIR Health President Robin Gelburd emphasized the organization’s commitment to public health research, aiming to shed light on critical health issues. #Queer Up Health