title: Analyses of the survival time and the influencing factors of chinese patients with prion diseases based on the surveillance data from 2008-2011.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Prion diseases are kinds of progressive, incurable neurodegenerative disorders. So far, survival time of the patients with these diseases in China is unclear.
  
  
  METHODS
  Based upon the surveillance data from Chinese Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) surveillance network from January 2008 to December 2011, a retrospective follow-up survey was performed. The survival times of Chinese patients with prion diseases and the possible influencing factors were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median survival time of 121 deceased patients was 7.1 months, while those for sporadic CJD (sCJD), familial CJD (fCJD) and fatal familial insomnia (FFI) cases were 6.1, 3.1 and 8.2 months, respectively. 74.0% of sCJD patients, 100% of fCJD cases and 91.7% FFI cases died within one year. The general socio-demographic factors, abnormalities in clinical examinations, clinical manifestations, and social factors did not significantly influence the survival times of Chinese prion patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Survival time of Chinese patients with prion diseases was comparable with that of many Western countries, but obviously shorter than that of Japan. Patients with acute onset and rapid progression had significantly short survival times.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Cao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ji-Chun
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Xiao-Mei
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Chan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Xiao-Ping
authors.initials: XP
authors.lastname: Dong
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D007562:Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D062665:Epidemiological Monitoring; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017096:Prion Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult