Table 1.
Comparison of patients’ characteristics referred as a case of acute facial palsy (≤90 days after onset) versus as chronic facial palsy (>90 days after onset).
| Acute Palsy n = 697 |
Chronic Palsy n = 523 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parameter | Absolute (N) | Absolute (N) | Χ2, df | p * |
| Gender | ||||
| Female | 365 | 348 | 24.7, 1 | <0.0001 |
| Male | 332 | 175 | ||
| Side | 7.7, 2 | 0.021 | ||
| Right | 343 | 224 | ||
| Left | 352 | 293 | ||
| Bilateral | 2 | 6 | ||
| Recurrent palsy | 4.5, 1 | 0.039 | ||
| No | 646 | 500 | ||
| Yes | 51 | 23 | ||
| Localization | 1.4, 2 | 0.490 | ||
| peripheral | 692 | 519 | ||
| central | 5 | 3 | ||
| nuclear | 0 | 1 | ||
| Etiology | 69.3, 6 | <0.0001 | ||
| idiopathic | 306 | 207 | ||
| Iatrogenic ** | 197 | 139 | ||
| infectious/inflammatory | 104 | 94 | ||
| traumatic | 19 | 24 | ||
| neoplastic, benign | 11 | 31 | ||
| neoplastic, malignant | 0 | 3 | ||
| congenital | 0 | 25 | ||
| Mean ± SD | Mean ± SD | T, df | p | |
| Age (years) at initial diagnosis | 53.0 ± 18.6 | 41.2 ± 20.3 | 10.6, 1218 | <0.0001 |
| Age (years) at initial presentation | 53.0 ± 18.6 | 46.4 ± 18.2 | 6.2, 1218 | <0.0001 |
| Interval (years) onset to initial presentation | 0.02 ± 0.04 | 5.3 ± 9.2 | −15.3, 1218 | <0.0001 |
* Significant p-values (p < 0.05) in bold for nominal data due to Pearson’s chi-square test for two subgroups or due to Fisher’s exact test for more than two subgroups and for metric data due to t-test; ** post-operative or post-radiotherapy; SD = standard.