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, continued analysis was made of data from the BLSA 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. Slow progress has been made in these studies with the greatest advances in the musculoskeletal pain health questions. 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. Too few cases existed to characterize the nature of the pain or the underlying causes. More women than men complained of chest pain in young adult age range, but the differences were not significant. Women also reported more neck and arm pain, while men reported more back pain. The characterization of the pain did not differ by age group. Both men and women answered questions about time of onset, duration, severity and recency in a similar manner for each of the four body regions, though the frequency of reporting differed. Further analyses are progressing in both of these studies. Women and men complain about pain in different sights at different rates, but the time course and severity of the pains do not differ.