Table 3.

Psychiatric History, Behavioral, and Cognitive Problems

	Percentage (Mean [SD])
	MELAS Patients	Carrier Relatives	Controls	P Valuea
Cognitive symptoms/signs
Age at onset of memory problems, y	71 (26 [15])	16 (46 [11])	8 (34 [0])	<.001b,d
Mean (SD) MMS score	1.32 (0.76)	0.24 (0.47)	0.14 (0.35)	<.0001b,d
Psychiatric history
Age at onset of hallucinations, y	37 (27.4 [13.1])	6 (42.0 [15.6])	0	<.001b,d
Age at onset of depression, y	32 (27.4 [12.4])	32 (30.1 [18.8])	17 (36.0 [19.8])	.33
Alcohol abuse	25	23	50	.15
Age at onset of drug treatment, y	25 (40.0 [7.7])	23 (36.2 [15.5])	10.00	.37
Age at onset of delusions, y	18 (22.8 [15])	4 (42 [0])	0	.01b,d
Suicide attempt	10	4	5	.43
Illicit drug use	5	11	25	.04
Other psychiatric issues	13.89 (20 [21])	6 (16 [16])	5 (47 [0])	.34
Psychiatric hospitalization	9.52	6.67	0	.32

Abbreviations: MELAS, mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes (syndrome); MMS, Mini-Mental State (examination).

^aThe χ² test was used to evaluate the heterogeneity across the 3 groups.

^bSignificant difference between patients and carrier relatives.

^cSignificant difference between carrier relatives and controls.

^dSignificant difference between patients and controls.