Table 1.

Univariate analysis of potential prognostic factors associated with mortality one year after first diagnosis (N = 176)

Parameters at FD	N		Category	Total	Death during 12 months from FD		Log- rank test
	ob-served	mis-sing			n =  60	%	X 2 (DF)	p (X 2 )
Age	176	0	≤ 65	69	18	26%	24.13 (2)	< 0.0001
			66-75	84	25	30%
			> 75	23	17	74%
Gender	176	0	male	96	31	32%	0.29 (1)	0.59
			female	80	29	36%
Site of onset	176	0	bulbar	62	25	40%	1.71 (1)	0.19
			spinal	114	35	31%
Site of spinal onset	114	0	upper limbs	39	10	26%	2.58 (4)	0.64
			lower limbs	60	20	33%
			upper + lower limbs	8	3	38%
			trunk	7	2	29%
DOD [months]	176	0	0 - 6	60	27	45%	9.41 (3)	0.024
			07-12	61	17	28%
			13-24	37	15	41%
			≥ 25	18	1	6%
BMI [kg/ m 2 ]	173	3	< 25	92	34	37%	0.97 (1)	0.33
			≥ 25	81	24	30%
Diff-BMI [kg/ m 2 ]	173	3	< 1	87	14	16%	33.14 (2)	< 0.0001
			1 - < 2	31	11	35%
			≥ 2	55	33	60%
EEC	176	0	possible	31	6	19%	16.21 (3)	0.001
			probable (lab. conf.)	54	12	22%
			probable	63	26	41%
			definite	28	16	57%
FRS	173	3	< 32	72	44	61%	46.92 (1)	< 0.0001
			≥ 32	101	14	14%
FVC [%]	153	23	< 80	31	19	61%	28.61 (1)	< 0.0001
			≥ 80	122	27	22%
PCO 2 [mm Hg]	134	42	< 42	112	33	29%	15.97 (1)	< 0.0001
			≥ 42	22	14	64%
CK [U/ l]	153	23	< 150	73	27	37%	1.29 (1)	0.26
			≥ 150	80	24	30%
Pre-alcohol cons. status	149	27	no	62	26	42%	2.99 (1)	0.084
			yes	87	19	22%
Pre-smoking status	151	25	no	85	23	27%	0.69 (1)	0.41
			yes	66	23	35%
social life	153	23	living in a partnership	109	28	26%	1.59 (1)	0.21
			single person	44	19	43%
Abbreviations	DOD	delay between onset and diagnosis			FD	first diagnosis
	BMI	body mass index			FRS	functional rating scale
	Diff-BMI	difference between BMI at diagnosis and six months before			FVC	forced vital capacity
					PCO2	carbondioxide pressure in blood
	EEC	revised El Escorial criteria			CK	creatinine kinase