Less mobile women with multiple sclerosis make less use of preventive health services

The use of women's preventive health services is lower in non-ambulatory women than in fully or partly ambulatory women with multiple sclerosis. Cheng et al (p 968) propose several possibilities for this: doctors do not believe that non-ambulatory women have an adequate life expectancy to warrant prevention screening; patients may be reluctant to undergo screening services that are potentially uncomfortable or embarrassing; and medical systems cannot easily accommodate patients with mobility impairments, who may require access to specialist equipment and extra time. The authors sent a questionnaire survey to 1164 adults with multiple sclerosis in two regions of the United States and received responses from 713 women.

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Relevant Article

Mobility impairments and use of preventive services in women with multiple sclerosis: observational study

Eric Cheng, Lawrence Myers, Sheldon Wolf, Deborah Shatin, Xin-Ping Cui, George Ellison, Thomas Belin, and Barbara Vickrey
BMJ 2001 323: 968-969. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]