Comparison of body-image and self-esteem among athlete and non-athlete MS patients

Background: Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic and progressive disease of central nervous system. The disease and its inabilities are threat to independence and capabilityof the patient to fill in their role in family and society. This makes the patient feel incompetent so that his image of body and health is degraded. Physical activity is one ofthe measures that considerably help the patient to cope with their condition, live, and fight the disease. Taking into account the positive effects of exercising on self-esteemand body_ image healthy people, the present study is an attempt to compare body-image and self-esteem among MS patients who does sport and those who do not. Materials and Methods: The participants were MS patients including 55 athlete MS patients and 59 non-athlete MS patients at age range 22-35. They were selected throughconvenience random sampling. The athlete MS patients were 16 men and 39 women with average age of 26.9±6.7, average height of 166±8.9cm, and average weight of70.2±11.3kg. The non-athlete MS patients were 34 women and 25 men with average age of 27.5±8.3, average height of 168±4.2cm, and average weight of 68.4±1.8. All theparticipants were volunteers. Body-esteem was measured using Mandelson’s bodyesteem inventory, while self-esteem was assessed using Rosenberg self-esteem scale. Kolmogrov Smirnov test was used to check data distribution and the variables were compared by independent t-test (sig=0.05). Results and Discussions: The results of comparison of self-esteem and body-image between the two groups showed that the both indices were higher among athlete MS patients. As the findings showed, apparently, doing sport acts as an intermediary factor in improvement of self-esteem and adopting positive attitudes toward oneself. Conclusion: Consequently, sport can be one of the best and most effective approaches to improve and increase body-image and self-esteem among MS patients.

Keywords:

Body-image , self-esteem , MS , athlete , non-athlete