Motherhood and diagnostic delay among women with multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is most frequently diagnosed in women between the ages of 20-40, often coinciding with child-rearing years. In this analysis of MS diagnostic delay stratified by parenthood status, women with children had longer time to MS diagnosis than those without children (β = 1.28, p = 0.001), controlling for age at symptom onset, progressive disease subtype, smoking, and social drivers of health. A similar difference between men with and without children was not observed. The association between motherhood and longer time to diagnosis was even more notable in employed (β = 1.94, p = 0.001) and single (β = 1.61, p = 0.001) women.