Table 2.
Frequency of diagnoses of blood–CSF barrier (B–CSF–B) dysfunction in the study population by sex, age and specific disease status
| Female | Male | p | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All: n (%) | 718 (59.4) | 491 (40.6) | |
| Altered B-CSF-B: n (%) | 150 (20.1) | 216 (44.0) | < 0.0001 |
| Age 16–40 years: n (%) | 37 (11.8) | 66 (40.8) | < 0.0001 |
| Age 41–60 years: n (%) | 60 (23.4) | 78 (44.3) | < 0.0001 |
| Age > 60 years: n (%) | 53 (33.3) | 72 (47.1) | 0.0134 |
| MS: n (%) | 204 (68.7) | 93 (31.3) | |
| Altered B-CSF-B: n (%) | 15 (7.35) | 23 (24.7) | < 0.0001 |
| OIND: n (%) | 132 (47.0) | 149 (53.0) | |
| Altered B-CSF-B: n (%) | 60 (45.5) | 89 (59.7) | 0.0167 |
| NIND: n (%) | 146 (49.2) | 151 (50.8) | |
| Altered B-CSF-B: n (%) | 23 (15.8) | 50 (33.1) | 0.0005 |
| UNK: n (%) | 236 (70.7) | 98 (29.3) | |
| Altered B–CSF–B: n (%) | 52 (22.0) | 54 (55.1) | < 0.0001 |
B-CSF-B dysfunction was defined using the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)/serum albumin quotient (QAlb) with the following upper reference limits: 6.5 for patients aged 16–40 years, 8.0 for patients aged 41–60 years and 9.0 for patients over 60 years. Chi square test was used for all comparisons
ALL patient groups analysed as a whole, MS multiple sclerosis, NIND non-inflammatory neurological diseases, OIND other inflammatory neurological diseases, UNK unknown-neurological diagnosis