Table 1.

Clinical and demographic characteristics of the study population

	Female	Male	p
All patients, n (%)	718 (59.4)	491 (40.6)
Age, years: median (IQR)	44 (33–58)	48 (35–65)	0.0002
MS, n (%)	204 (68.7)	93 (31.3)
Age, years: median (IQR)	37.0 (30.0–45.0)	35.0 (29.0–45.0)	0.5289
Relapsing–remitting: n	163	72
Secondary progressive: n	23	11
Primary progressive: n	18	10
OIND, n (%)	132 (47.0)	149 (53.0)
Age, years: median (IQR)	52.5 (39.0–63.6)	52.0 (38.5–69.0)	0.5070
Diagnosis (n)	Infectious diseases (17) Autoimmune neurological diseases (46) Paraneoplastic CNS neurological syndromes (4) Aseptic or bacterial meningitis; aseptic encephalitis or myelitis (16) Inflammatory demyelinating neuropathies (40). Inflammatory neuritis (9)	Infectious diseases (15) Autoimmune neurological diseases (26) Paraneoplastic CNS neurological syndromes (10) Aseptic or bacterial meningitis; aseptic encephalitis or myelitis (26) Inflammatory demyelinating neuropathies (59) Inflammatory neuritis (13)
NIND, n (%)	146 (49.2)	151 (50.8)
Age, years: median (IQR)	52.0 (38.8–68.0)	53.0 (37.0–66.0)	0.7482
Diagnosis (n)	CNS expansions (14) Vascular diseases (50) Neurodegenerative diseases (20) Hereditary/metabolic encephalopathies (4) Unconsciousness (18) Non-inflammatory PNS involvement (16) CSF flow abnormalities (5) Dementia and Parkinson syndromes (19)	CNS expansions (13) Vascular diseases (51) Neurodegenerative diseases (27) Hereditary/metabolic encephalopathies (2) Unconsciousness (10) Non-inflammatory PNS involvement (27) CSF flow abnormalities (2) Dementia and Parkinson syndromes (19)
UNK, n (%)	236 (70.7)	98 (29.3)
Age, years: median (IQR)	42.4 (31.0–58.0)	51.0 (40.8–66.0)	0.0002

Age distributions were compared with Mann–Whitney u-test

CNS central nervous system, CSF cerebrospinal fluid, MS multiple sclerosis, NIND non-inflammatory neurological diseases, OIND other inflammatory neurological diseases, PNS peripheral nervous system, UNK unknown-neurological diagnosis