Table 1.
Demographic, clinical and brain volumetric sample characteristics
| Multiple sclerosis | Test-statistic | P-value | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HC (N = 59) | CP (N = 134) | MCI (N = 42) | CI (N = 54) | |||
| Demographics | ||||||
| Male, n | 28 (47.5%)CP | 35 (26.1%)HC | 16 (38.1%) | 23 (42.6%) | X2 = 10.165 | 0.017 |
| Age, y | 45.99 ± 9.92 | 46.06 ± 10.14 | 49.03 ± 12.69 | 50.36 ± 11.56 | F = 2.696 | 0.046 |
| Level of education¥ | 6 (3)MCI,CI | 6 (2)MCI | 4 (3)HC,CP | 4 (3)HC | F = 4.995 | 0.002 |
| Disease characteristics | ||||||
| Symptom duration | – | 13.80 ± 7.96CI | 14.48 ± 7.56 | 17.63 ± 9.8CP | F = 4.067 | 0.018 |
| Disease phenotype, RRMS/SPMS/PPMS | – | 114CI/15/5MCI | 31/4/7CP | 34CI/13/7 | X2 = 15.713 | 0.003 |
| Treatment, Yes, n | – | 49 (47,1%) | 19 (45,2%) | 18 (33,3%) | X2 = 1.523 | 0.467 |
| First line, n | – | 37 (75,5%) | 19 (100%) | 14 (77,8%) | X2 = 5.619 | 0.060 |
| IFB/COP/NA/Other | – | 31/6/9/3 | 13/5/0/0 | 12/2/3/1 | X2 = 6.833 | 0.337 |
| Clinical variables | ||||||
| EDSS ¥ | – | 3 (1.5) | 3 (1.5) | 4 (2.75)CP | F = 8.701 | <0.001 |
| Cognitive function | 0.07 ± 0.47a | −0.18 ± 0.47a | −1.01 ± 0.31a | −1.77 ± 0.70a | F = 173.518 | <0.001 |
| Longitudinal cognition, Stable/declining | – | 102/32 | 28/14 | 35/19 | X2 = 2.757 | 0.252 |
| Fatigue (CIS-20) | – | 72.47 ± 26.6 | 70.08 ± 26.8 | 79.8 ± 22.3 | F = 1.315 | 0.272 |
| Brain volume | ||||||
| NDGMV (mL) | 62.71 ± 3.47a | 58.71 ± 4.89a | 55.80 ± 6.01a | 52.07 ± 7.49a | F = 40.371 | <0.001 |
| NCGMV (L) | 0.78 ± 0.05MCI,CI | 0.77 ± 0.04CI | 0.75 ± 0.05HC,CI | 0.72 ± 0.06a | F = 17.975 | <0.001 |
| Lesion volume (mL) | – | 11.83 (9.18)CI | 16.77 (13.69)CI | 23.30 (17.78) a | F = 16.459 | <0.001 |
Note. All values represent means and standard deviations for the continuous variables but signify medians and the interquartile range (¥) or frequencies for categorical variables. Sample characteristics were compared between groups. The level of education was based on the highest level of education attained. Brain volumetric measures were transformed to litres (L) or millilitres (mL) for readability. Fatigue was assessed in a subset of participants (CP/MCI/CI: N = 64/24/35). Post hoc pairwise comparisons were Bonferroni corrected and P-values below 0.05 after correction were depicted in bold (a = significantly different from all other groups, HC = significantly different from HC, CP = significantly different from CP, MCI = significantly different from MCI, CI = significantly different from CI). HC = healthy control, CP = cognitively preserved, MCI = mild cognitive impairment, CI = cognitive impairment, NDGMV = normalized deep grey matter volume, NCGMV = normalized cortical grey matter volume.