Kids, it might be time for you to have "the talk" with your parents.

A new survey of single Canadian adults between the ages of 40 to 59 shows many of them are not at all concerned

Most of 1,200 single adults surveyed had little or no concern of contracting a sexually transmitted infection, University of Guelph professor and researcher Robin Milhausen said.

That, she said "is really an unrealistic level of confidence in your ability to stay sexually healthy."

In her research, Milhausen has found university students are more likely to have used a condom in their last sexual encounter when compared to people who could be their parents.

Pregnancy not a concern

Milhausen said her studies have shown the main reason people use condoms is to avoid pregnancy – something middle aged folks may not be concerned about because of menopause or they've had surgery to prevent it.

But as adults re-enter the dating world after divorce, separation or the death of a partner, they need to be concerned about STIs.

"You don't see people with STIs, you don't notice them, whereas you see pregnant people and you see babies and you think to yourself, 'I don't want one of those.' But STIs are invisible," she said.

You see pregnant people and you see babies and you think to yourself, 'I don't want one of those.' But STIs are invisible. - Robin Milhausen, University of Guelph professor and researcher

"It's well known that young people think, 'It can't happen to me,' but what we're documenting with this research is that midlife adults think it can't happen to them also."

Milhausen, who worked on the study with Christopher Quinn-Nilas from the University of Guelph and Alex McKay from the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada (SIECCAN), said this is the first major study in Canada looking at the sexual habits of those between 40 and 59 years of age.

"We tend to think about young people as being the ones who are causing the most risk, so a lot of the resources have been funnelled into studying adolescents and emerging adults," she said.

Condom use declines with age

The researchers surveyed a total of 2,400 Canadians, 1,200 men and 1,200 women, as well as 1,200 single adults and 1,200 married. Of the sample, 91.5 per cent were heterosexual.

The STI behaviour risk report was restricted to individuals who said they were single and they there equally distributed into four age categories, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54 and 55-59.

The STI behaviour risk study showed 77.2 per cent of respondents had sexual intercourse in their last sexual encounter. A third of men – 35.3 per cent – and about a quarter of women – 27.6 per cent – said they used a condom. In a previous study with university students, 61.1 per cent of men and 50.6 per cent of women used a condom.

The STI behaviour risk study showed 77.2 per cent of respondents had sexual intercourse in their last sexual encounter - a third of men and about a quarter of women said they used a condom.

The study showed 56 per cent of single, middle aged men and 61.3 per cent of single, middle aged women, were "not very concerned" or "not at all concerned" about contracting an STI.

As well, the study found condom use for both midlife men and women declined with age.

"The behavioural risk for STI is higher among single midlife Canadians that it is for university students," the study's authors wrote in their conclusion.

The results "clearly indicate a need to increase awareness of STIs among single, midlife Canadians and that greater efforts are required to promote condom use among sexually active single people aged 40 to 59."

The study, which was funded by the condom company Trojan, was released earlier this month.