Table 1.

Demographic, clinical, neuropsychological and neuroimaging characteristics of the participants.

	MS (n = 476)			HS (n = 110)			MS vs. HS
	Female	Male	t/Z	Female	Male	t
Number (%)	n = 337 (70%)	n = 139 (30%)		n = 54 (50%)	n = 56 (50%)		P < 0.001***
Age (years)	35 ± 10	34 ± 9	P = 0.58*	38 ± 12	30 ± 11	P = 0.01 *	P = 0.70*
Disease duration (months) EDSS (1–10)	16 ± 11	16 ± 10	P = 0.88*	na	na	na	na
Baseline	1.5 (0–5)	1.5 (0–5)	P = 0.41**	na	na	na	na
Follow-up	1.5 (0–5)	1.0 (0–5)	P = 0.54**
Composite cognitive performance score (Z-score)
Baseline	−0.34 ± 1.04	−0.26 ± 0.97	P = 0.53*	na	na	na	na
Follow-up	−0.24 ± 1.07	−0.25 ± 1.04	P = 0.92*
Composite memory performance (Z-score)
Baseline	−0.08 ± 0.75	−0.01 ± 0.73	P = 0.47*	na	na	na	na
Follow-up	−0.09 ± 0.88	−0.002 ± 0.84	P = 0.38*
T2 lesion volume (log10 mL)
Baseline	0.38 ± 0.6	0.42 ± 0.6	P = 0.58*	na	na	na	na
Follow-up	0.46 ± 0.6	0.48 ± 0.6	P = 0.76*
Hippocampal lesion volume (log10 mL)
Baseline	0.55 ± 0.32	0.57 ± 0.26	P = 0.78*	na	na	na	na
Follow-up	0.55 ± 0.31	0.60 ± 0.25	P = 0.40*

EDSS, expanded disability status scale; HS, healthy subjects; MS, multiple sclerosis.

Variables are presented as means ± standard deviation (SD) or median (range).

^*P-values derived from Student’s two-tailed t-test (age, disease duration, composite cognitive performance Z-score (average of PASAT and MUSIC Z-scores), composite memory performance Z-score (average of memory-related subtests of the MUSIC test) and T2 and hippocampal lesion volumes).

^**P-values derived from Mann–Whitney U-test (EDSS).

^***P-values derived from Pearson’s chi-squared test (sex). Significant P-values are marked in bold.