Longitudinal Effects of Sex, Aging, and Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis on Function

A gap in research about the trajectories of function among men and women aging with functional limitations because of multiple sclerosis (MS) hinders ability to plan for future needs.

Using a biopsychosocial model, we characterize how men and women with MS report changes over time in their function and test how person-level differences in age, diagnosis duration, and sex influence perceived function.

A longitudinal study with multiple waves of surveys was used to collect data on participant perceptions of function, as well as demographic and contextual variables. Self-reported functional limitation was measured over a decade. The study participants were community residing with physician-diagnosed MS.

The people with MS had a diagnosis duration of about 13 years and were around 51 years of age, on average, at the start of the study. They were primarily women and non-Hispanic White. We analyzed the data using mixed-effects models. Subject-specific, functional limitation trajectories were described best with a quadratic growth model. Relative to men, women reported lower functional limitation and greater between-person variation and rates of acceleration in functional limitation scores.

Results suggest function progressed through two pathways for over a decade, particularly closer to diagnoses. Variability in trajectories between individuals based on sex and years since diagnosis of disease indicates that men and women with MS may experience perceptions of their function with age differently. This has implications for clinician advice to men and women with MS.