Table 1.
Diagnostic delay and intermediate delays of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in the medical literature.
| Reference | Country | Number of patients | Diagnostic delay | Intermediate delays | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median (months) | Average (months) | Median (months) | Average (months) | |||
| Belsh and Schiffman [19] | USA | 64 | — | 12.3 | — | A-B (5.9) |
| Brooks [11] | USA | 34 | — | 21.9 | — | C-E (8.7) |
| Chiò [22] | International | 201 | 14 | 17–21 | A-B (2); B–C (6); C-E (4) | A-B (5.6); B–C (6); C-E (7) |
| Househam and Swash [20] | UK | 57 | — | 16.2 | A-B (3); B–C (5); C-E (2) | A-B (5.2); B–C (7.2); C-E (3.8) |
| Traynor et al. [23] | Ireland | 388 | 8 | — | — | — |
| Iwasaki et al. [24] | Japan | 117 | — | 11.7–12.7 | — | A-B (5.7); A-C (9.7) |
| Chiò et al. [25] | Italy | 221 | — | 11.1 | — | — |
| Zoccolella et al. [18] | Italy | 130 | 9.3 | — | — | — |
| Czaplinski et al. [26] | USA | 1041 | 13–14.2 | — | — | — |
| Torny et al. [10] | France | 77 | 7 | 11.7 | A-B (2); B–C (3) | A-B (4.7); B–C (6.9) |
| Donaghy et al. [17] | Northern Ireland | 73 | 15.6 | — | A-B (3.1); B–C (5.2); C-E (1.9) | — |
| Chiò et al. [27] | Italy | 1260 | — | 10.4 | — | — |
| Kraemer et al. [28] | Germany | 100 | — | 13.7 | — | — |
| Mitchell et al. [16] | England | 640 | 11.4 | — | — | — |
| Turner et al. [29] | Ireland | 49 | 9–15 | 10–22 | — | — |
| Logroscino et al. [6] | Europe | 1028 | 8.7 | 12.2 | — | — |
| Cellura et al. [30] | Italy | 260 | 11 | — | A-B (3); B–C (3); C-E (5) | — |
| Williams et al. [31] | USA | 272 | 27 | — | — | — |
| Nzwalo et al. [32] | Portugal | 101 | 9.5 | 10.1 | A-B (2); A-C (6) | — |
| Paganoni et al. [33] | USA | 304 | 11.5 | — | A-B (4); B-D0 (3) – D0-E (1) | — |
| Scialo et al. [21] | Italy | 298 | 10 | 14.3 | — | — |
| Knibb et al. [34] | England | 575 | 11.1 | — | — | — |
| Stevic et al. [35] | Serbia | 325 | — | 19.2 | — | — |
| Yates and Rafiq [36] | Europe | 512 | — | 9.5 | — | — |
| Calvo et al. [1] | Italy | 2648 | 14.2–15 | — | — | — |
| Galvin et al. [37] | Ireland | 155 | 11 | 15.1 | A-B (3) | A-B (5.2); B–C (6.1); C-E (3.8) |
| Our study | France | 90 | 12 | 17 | A-B (1.1); B–C (4); A-D0 (0); C-D0 (0); D0-E (0.2) | A-B (2.7); B–C (6.5); A-D0 (2.1); C-D0 (1.3); D0-E (2.9) |
| Average | 408.1 | 12.1 | 14.2 | A-B (2.6); B–C (4.4); C-E (3.2) | A-B (5); B–C (6.5); C-E (5.8) | |
| Range | 34–2648 | 7–27 | 9.5–21 | A-B (1.1-4); B–C (3-6); C-E (1.9-5) | A-B (2.7-5.9); B–C (6-7.2); C-E (3.8-8.7) | |
A-B = delay of complaint; A-C = delay for a neurologist consultation since the first symptom of the patient; A-D0 = delay of the first suspicion of ALS since the first symptom of the patient; B–C = delay for a neurologist consultation since the first complaint of the patient; B-D0 = delay of the first suspicion of ALS since the first complaint of the patient; C-D0 = delay to perform electroneuromyography; C-E = delay for the neurologist to make the diagnosis of ALS; D0-E = delay for diagnosis confirmation.