Women who have sex less than once a week may be more likely to die early than those who engage in more regular intercourse, according to the results of a new study. While this same impact was not observed in men, the researchers did note that more frequent sex reduces the chances of an early grave in both men and women with depression.

“Sexual activity is important for overall cardiovascular health possibly due to reduction of heart rate variability and blood flow increase,” write the authors. “Using findings from our study, we can infer that sexual activity, broadly defined, may ameliorate loss of function that can occur with age and the progression of disease,” they add.

To reach these conclusions, the researchers analyzed data from 14,542 individuals in the US, recorded as part of a national health survey conducted between 2005 and 2010. In total, 2,267 provided details of their sex lives, with 94.4 percent of those people claiming to get busy at least once a month, while 38.4 percent said they did so more than once a week.

Previous studies have indicated that the average US adult has sex 54 times a year – or about once a week – so the researchers decided to classify people into those with high and low sexual frequency, depending on whether they had intercourse more or less than once a week (52 times a year). 

Overall, women with low sexual frequency were 1.7 times more likely to have died from any cause by the end of 2015 than those with busier sex lives.

Importantly, the study authors also noted that this effect followed a dose-dependent pattern, meaning that the less sex a woman had, the higher her risk of mortality became. And despite not finding the same response in men, the researchers were surprised to observe that intercourse appears to have a “modifying relationship” on the adverse health effects of depression in both sexes.

Indeed, after adjusting for confounding risk factors such as obesity, advanced age, and lower socioeconomic status, the authors found that people who suffered from depression were around three times more likely to die during the follow-up period if they also had a low sexual frequency. 

It’s important to note, of course, that causation can’t be inferred from such correlations, although previous work has shown that people tend to experience improved mood and a greater sense of life purpose the day after having sex, which may contribute to improvements in depression and overall well being. These findings are in agreement with those of another small-scale study of Israeli adults, which found that having more sex was associated with better survival odds in people who had suffered heart attacks. 

Overall, then, the study authors stop short of announcing that a weekly shag could save your life, but on the basis of this evidence, it certainly can’t hurt.

The study has been published in the Journal of Psychosexual Health.