HEALTH AND DISEASE STATUS IN THE BLSA WOMEN--DISTRIBUTION OF DISEASES

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Aging women experience life changes differently than men. Over the past year, data from the BLSA were analyzed to compare gender similarities and differences (1) in drug treatment of hypertension, (2) symptom reporting with the study of chest pain and its association with heart disease, and differences in the reporting of musculoskeletal pains, and (3) the prevalence of urinary stress incontinence in women and its relationship to the aging process. In the past year slow progress has been made in these studies. Hypertension treatment was compared in two periods (1978-1982 and 1987-1991). No major differences were found in the treatment of hypertension in either time period, or in the application of new medications as they became available between the two time periods. Chest pain was found to be a common health complaint for both women and men. The prevalence at different ages was different by sex, with approximately 25% of women reporting chest pain by age throughout the adult life-span, while men showed an increase in reporting with increasing age. Women also reported more neck and arm pain, while men reported more back pain. Further analyses are progressing in both of these studies.