Table 3. Comprehensive Safety and Effectiveness Evaluation: Select Baseline Characteristics for Matched Patients.
| Variable | No. (%) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall matched cohortsa | Chronic usersb | |||
| Edaravone (n = 223) | Riluzole only (n = 669) | Edaravone (n = 96) | Riluzole only (n = 424) | |
| Age ≥65 y | 130 (58.3) | 389 (58.2) | 54 (56.3) | 229 (54.0) |
| Male | 216 (96.9) | 649 (97.0) | 95 (99.0) | 410 (96.7) |
| White race | 164 (73.5) | 489 (73.1) | 81 (84.4) | 322 (75.9) |
| Duration of ALS, yc | ||||
| ≤2 | 153 (68.6) | 458 (68.5) | 66 (68.8) | 296 (69.8) |
| >2 | 20 (9.0) | 62 (9.3) | 12 (12.5) | 45 (10.6) |
| Unknown | 50 (22.4) | 149 (22.3) | 18 (18.8) | 83 (19.6) |
| ALS-FRS-R score, median (IQR)d | 38 (37-42) | 35 (30-39) | 39.5 (30-42) | 35 (31-38) |
Abbreviations: ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; ALS-FRS-R, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale–Revised; IQR, interquartile range; VA, US Department of Veterans Affairs.
Propensity score matched on age 65 years or older, sex, race, marital status, priority group, VA copay, and duration of ALS.
Receiving at least 6 months of treatment.
Based on the first date an ALS diagnosis code was listed in an encounter to the date of edaravone initiation. If the first ALS diagnosis code occurred after edaravone initiation, the duration of ALS was categorized as unknown.
Available for 215 edaravone (from consultation) and 26 riluzole patients (from VA Corporate Data Warehouse) for overall and 95 edaravone (from consultation) and 17 patients who received riluzole (from VA Corporate Data Warehouse) for chronic users.