[Clinical course and epidemiological analysis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Szczecin in 1986-1995]

Abstract

49 patients diagnosed as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), hospitalized between 1986-1995, inhabitants of Szczecin-City were included in this study. ALS was diagnosed according to WFN criteria. The control group consisted of 60 people. Men:women ratio was 1.57:1. The mean age at ALS onset was 53.2 years. The disease was most often present between 51 and 60 years. Only one ALS patient was observed in the group of patients aged 21-30 and in the group of individuals older than 70 years. ALS incidence was 0.9 per 100,000 inhabitants and its prevalence in 1995 was 2.7 per 100,000 inhabitants. The mean duration was 30.8 months and was slightly higher in women. The shortest duration was observed in the bulbar form of ALS--21 months. Patients with ALS had been exposed to head trauma and contact with animals more often than the average population. There is no difference between Szczecin and previously analysed Polish cities in the considered epidemiological parameters. No discrepancies of clinical picture and course of the disease were found in comparison with other reported by other authors.