title: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A higher than expected incidence in people over 80 years of age.
abstract: Our objective was to determine the age-specific incidence and clinical-epidemiological characteristics of an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) cohort of patients in Catalonia (Spain). New cases diagnosed between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2013 were 41 (20 males and 21 females), with an annual crude incidence rate of 2.7 per 100,000 person-years (95% CI 1.90-3.59). The incidence rate increased with age reaching a peak in the age group of 70-79 years. There was a non-significant decrease in the incidence rate in the group of patients over 80 years (p-value = 0.75) at 17.99 per 100,000 person years (95% CI 7.81-28.17). The percentage of patients over 80 years of age was 29.3% and over age 85 years was 9.8%. The prevalence rate at the end of the study period was 8.38/100,000 of the total population. Mean age at symptom onset was 76.0 years. Onset of symptoms was bulbar or generalized in 36.6% of cases. In conclusion, ALS incidence in Osona is within the range of other countries across Europe. Our results suggest that the age-specific incidence rate of ALS increases with age through the oldest age groups suggesting an age-risk effect to develop the disease.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Neurology , Vic University Hospital , Vic , Barcelona.
authors.forename: Josep Maria
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Aragones
authors.affiliation: b Department of Epidemiology , Vic University Hospital , Vic , Barcelona.
authors.forename: Jacint
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Altimiras
authors.affiliation: b Department of Epidemiology , Vic University Hospital , Vic , Barcelona.
authors.forename: Pere
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Roura-Poch
authors.affiliation: c Department of Pharmacy , Vic University Hospital , Vic , Barcelona.
authors.forename: Elvira
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Homs
authors.affiliation: d Department of Geriatry , Hospital de la Santa Creu , Vic , Barcelona.
authors.forename: Lorena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bajo
authors.affiliation: e Department of Neurology , Neuromuscular Diseases Unit, Hospital de Bellvitge, Hospitalet de Llobregat , Barcelona.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Povedano
authors.affiliation: f Department of Neurology , Neuromuscular Diseases Unit, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona , Barcelona , Spain , and.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cortés-Vicente
authors.affiliation: f Department of Neurology , Neuromuscular Diseases Unit, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona , Barcelona , Spain , and.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Illa
authors.affiliation: g Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, King's College London , Department of Clinical Neuroscience , London , UK.
authors.forename: Ammar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Chalabi
authors.affiliation: f Department of Neurology , Neuromuscular Diseases Unit, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona , Barcelona , Spain , and.
authors.forename: Ricard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rojas-García
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult