TABLE 1.
Descriptive statics of ALS patients and healthy controls; data are shown as mean (standard deviation) or count (percentage)
| Variable | ALS (n = 130) | HC (n = 27) | F test/χ2 | p Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics | ||||
| Age, years | 60.39 (9.38) | 58.48 (12.07) | 0.83 | .362 |
| Education, years | 10.52 (4.47) | 10.63 (3.87) | 0.01 | .909 |
| Sex, male | 80 (61.50%) | 21 (77.80%) | 2.56 | .109 |
| Clinical and motor features | ||||
| Disease Duration, months | 27.19 (31.35) | – | – | – |
| ALSFRS‐R total score | 37.09 (6.98) | – | – | – |
| ALSFRS‐R subscores | ||||
| Bulbar | 10.54 (1.96) | – | – | – |
| Fine motor | 8.12 (3.23) | – | – | – |
| Gross motor | 7.30 (3.19) | – | – | – |
| Respiratory | 11.10 (1.78) | – | – | – |
| Upper motor neuron score | 8.31 (4.28) | – | – | – |
| Patients under NIV | 10 (7.69%) | – | – | – |
| Patients with PEG | 3 (2.30%) | – | – | – |
| Patients using Riluzole | 119 (91.53%) | – | – | – |
| Extra‐motor features | ||||
| ECAS total score | 86.45 (22.88) | – | – | – |
| ECAS subscores | ||||
| Executive functions | 26.54 (9.98) | – | – | – |
| Fluency | 15.68 (6.68) | – | – | – |
| Language | 20.73 (5.06) | – | – | – |
| Memory | 12.75 (5.21) | – | – | – |
| Visuospatial abilities | 10.69 (1.49) | – | – | – |
| Beck Depression Inventory‐II | 9.63 (8.37) | – | – | – |
| STAI form Y‐1 | 37.49 (11.50) | – | – | – |
| DAS total score | 19.70 (9.20) | – | – | – |
| DAS subscales | ||||
| Executive | 3.64 (3.86) | – | – | – |
| Emotional | 6.78 (3.81) | – | – | – |
| Cognitive and behavioral initiation | 9.33 (5.60) | – | – | – |
| Epworth Sleepiness Scale | 4.60 (3.22) | – | – | – |
| Fatigue measures | ||||
| MFI total score | 58.92 (17.36) | – | – | – |
| MFI subscales | ||||
| Physical fatigue | 15.17 (4.21) | – | – | – |
| Mental fatigue | 7.45 (4.42) | – | – | – |
| General fatigue | 13.45 (4.53) | – | – | – |
| Reduced activity | 12.42 (5.02) | – | – | – |
| Reduced motivation | 10.42 (4.13) | – | – | – |
ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; HC, healthy controls; ALSFRS‐R, ALS Functional Rating Scale—Revised; NIV, noninvasive ventilation; PEG, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy; ECAS, Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioral ALS Screen; DAS, Dimensional Apathy Scale; STAI, State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory; MFI, Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory.