Table 1.
Demographic, clinical and cognitive characteristics at study entry in ALS patients and healthy controls (HC).
| ALS (n = 50) | HC (n = 47) | p | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sex, males (%) | 35 (70%) | 28 (60%) | 0.30 |
| Age at baseline (years) | 59.8 ± 11.5 | 60.8 ± 8.1 | 0.66 |
| Disease duration at baseline (months) | 16.2 ± 10.3 | – | – |
| ALSFRS-r at baseline [0–48] | 41.5 ± 5.1 | – | – |
| ALSFRS-r progression rate (decrease/month) | 0.5 ± 0.4 | – | – |
| Site of symptom onset (limb/bulbar) | 40/10 | – | – |
| El Escorial diagnosis at baseline | |||
| (possible/probable lab-supported/probable/definite) | 10/22/9/9 | – | – |
| El Escorial diagnosis at last visit | |||
| (possible/probable lab-supported/probable/definite) | 0/4/28/18 | – | – |
| Total MRC sum score [0–120] | 108.0 ± 11.2 | – | – |
| UMN score [0–16] | 9.2 ± 4.6 | – | – |
| MMSE (% of correct/administrable items) | 96.7 ± 3.2 | – | – |
| Phonemic fluency [normal range > 17] (Novelli et al., 1986) | 29.7 ± 9.4 | – | – |
| Index PF | 6.5 ± 2.9 | ||
| Semantic fluency [normal range > 25] (Novelli et al., 1986) | 39.2 ± 9.2 | – | – |
| Index SF | 5.2 ± 3.6 | ||
| Deceased or tracheotomized at censoring (%) | 41 (82%) | – | – |
| Survival from onset (months) | 46.2 ± 18.1 | – | – |
| Survival from baseline visit (months) | 30.6 ± 15.8 | – | – |
Values are reported as mean ± standard deviation or absolute and percentage frequency (%) for continuous and categorical variables, respectively. Differences between ALS patients and healthy controls were assessed using Mann-Whitney (for age), or Fisher test (for sex). Abbreviations: ALS = amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; ALSFRS-r = ALS functional rating scale, revised version; HC = healthy controls; MMSE = Mini Mental State Examination; MRC = Medical Research Council scale for muscular strength; PF = phonemic fluency; SF = semantic fluency; UMN = upper motor neuron.