title: Estimation of the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis incidence by capture-recapture method in the Limousin region of France.
abstract: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rapidly fatal degenerative neurological disease categorized among motor neuron diseases. In the literature, the incidence of ALS varies between 0.7 and 2.4 per 100, 000 inhabitants. A study using the capture-recapture method (multiple records system analysis) was undertaken in Limousin (France) ascertaining all patients having onset of definite or probable ALS during the period 1994-1995. Three information sources able to identify these new ALS cases were selected: the first source was a computerized database of the Neurology Department of the University Hospital of Limoges; the second source consisted of the neurologists of the Limousin region and neighboring provinces (county-sized regions); the third source grouped the hospitals of the Limousin region and neighboring provinces (county-sized regions). During this period, 46 new cases of ALS were seen, corresponding to an observed mean annual incidence of 3.2 (+/-0.6) per 100,000 inhabitants. After standardization for age, the annual incidence was 2.5 per 100,000 inhabitants. The number of new cases estimated by the capture-recapture method was 70, corresponding to an estimated mean annual incidence of 4.9 (+/-1.0) for 100,000 inhabitants. Hence, statistical modeling utilizing partially overlapping information sources permitted a more exhaustive compendium of the new cases of ALS and may be a truer reflection of actual disease incidence than has been previously reported.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistic and Medical Informatic, Faculty of Medicine, 2 rue du Dr. Marcland, 87025 Cedex, Limoges, France. preux@unilim.fr
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Preux
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Druet-Cabanac
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Couratier
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Debrock
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Truong
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Marcharia
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Vallat
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dumas
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Boutros-Toni
mesh_terms: D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008499:Medical Records; D015233:Models, Statistical; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires