The effects of age and sex on susceptibility to motion sickness.

BACKGROUND: The present investigation is concerned with the role of sex, age and experience in determining motion sickness susceptibility.

HYPOTHESIS: Motion sickness susceptibility varies with sex and age, and may be related to the level of physical activity sustained by the individual.

METHODS: Three surveys were conducted. The first included school age children (9-18 yr) and addressed motion experience and motion sickness on 13 forms of transport. The second questionnaire sought to determine whether these sex differences could be understood in terms of differential involvement in various forms of physical activity. The third survey addressed the role of age and sex effects in a college age population.

RESULTS: The first study revealed significantly greater motion sickness for female as compared with male subjects on devices with which both groups were equivalent in terms of exposure history. The second study showed little relation between an individual's level of physical activity and susceptibility to motion sickness. The results of the third study were in essential agreement with the first survey and revealed no significant interactions between age and sex, suggesting that sex differences remain stable across this age range.

CONCLUSION: Our conclusions regarding these surveys are that sex differences in motion sickness do not vary significantly with age and cannot be accounted for by differences in exposure to motion or physical activity. There was also little evidence for the notion that men are more reticent to report motion sickness.