Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Jan;77(1):18-21.

Timeliness of diagnosis in motor neurone disease: a population-based study

Colette Donaghy  1 , Alison Dick, Orla Hardiman, Victor Patterson
Affiliations

Timeliness of diagnosis in motor neurone disease: a population-based study

Colette Donaghy et al. Ulster Med J. 2008 Jan.

Abstract

Following the observation from our experience with the Northern Ireland Motor Neurone Disease (MND) register that excessive delays appeared to exist in the diagnosis of patients with MND, we performed a population-based study of the length and factors involved in the diagnostic process. In 73 patients we found that the median time to diagnosis from symptom onset was 15.6 months, being shorter in bulbar onset patients and longer in females or those presenting with nonspecific gait disturbance. We divided this interval into three time periods--symptom onset to first medical contact, first medical contact to neurology referral and neurology referral to diagnosis. The time period from first medical contact to neurology referral was the longest of the three periods studied indicating that appropriate timely referral of patients to neurologists was responsible for the greatest delay in making a diagnosis of MND. We propose that improving the accessibility of neurological services could potentially reduce the time to diagnosis by at least three months.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1
Median time periods (months)
Fig 2
Fig 2
1st Specialist seen on referral from 1st medical contact
Fig 3
Fig 3
Appropriate onward referral from non-neurologists
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Institute of Medicine. Crossing the quality chasm: a new health system for the 21st century. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2001. Committee on Quality of Health Care in America.
    1. Johnston M, Earll L, Mitchell E, Morrison V, Wright S. Communicating the diagnosis of motor neurone disease. Palliat Med. 1996;10(1):23–34. - PubMed
    1. Chazot F, Vallat JM, Hugon J, Lubeau M, Dumas M. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Limousin (Limoges area, France) Neuroepidemiology. 1986;5(1):39–46. - PubMed
    1. Chio A. ISIS Survey: an international study on the diagnostic process and its implications in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. J Neurol. 1999;246(Suppl 3):1–5. III. - PubMed
    1. Giagheddu M, Mascia V, Cannas A, Pirastru MI, Sanna F, Rachele MG, et al. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Sardinia, Italy: an epidemiologic study. Acta Neurol Scand. 1993;87(6):446–54. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources