Women's and men's differing experiences of health, lifestyle, and aging with multiple sclerosis

Abstract

Background: The growing population of older people with multiple sclerosis (MS) has led to more interest in understanding factors associated with healthy aging. We aimed to determine whether older women and men with MS have different health and lifestyle behaviors and whether there are sex differences in contributors to perceived health. Methods: Data were obtained from a postal survey involving 743 Canadians older than 55 years with MS for at least 20 years. Sex differences in health, lifestyle, mood, and socioeconomics were examined using analysis of variance. Multiple regression was used to build explanatory models of health perception. Results: Despite no differences in age, years with MS, disability, fatigue, or social support, older men (n = 166) experienced lower perceived health and lower resilience and participated less in life roles than older women (n = 577). Men experienced more depressive symptoms, and women reported more anxiety. Depression was the strongest predictor of health perception in both women and men (β = -2.40 and -5.19, respectively, for each 3-point increase in depressive symptoms). Other contributors included household participation, fatigue, resilience, and disability in women and physical activity, financial flexibility, and alcohol use in men. Conclusions: Older men exhibit poorer adaptation to aging with MS than older women.