Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Catalonia: A population based study

Abstract

Our objective was to determine the incidence and clinical-epidemiological characteristics of an ALS cohort patient in Catalonia (Spain). We conducted a population based registry for a three-year period (1999−2001) in Catalonia (6,361,365 inhabitants) using several sources of information. The original El Escorial diagnostic criteria (1994) for ALS were applied for the classification of patients. New cases diagnosed between 1 January 1999 and 31 December 2001 were 215 (118 males and 97 females), with an annual crude incidence rate of 1.4/100,000 (95% CI 1.3−1.8). This rate showed a peak age between 75 and 79 years. The incidence rate was 1.6 (95% CI 1.5−2.2) in males and 1.2 (95% CI 1.1−1.7) in females. Prevalence at the end of the period was 5.4/100,000 of the total population. Median age at onset was 64.3 years. Onset of symptoms was bulbar or generalized in 38% of cases. Mean disease duration at diagnosis was 11.0 months. Median time of survival from onset was 30.8 months. In conclusion, ALS incidence in Catalonia is within the range of other countries across Europe with different geographic, environmental and socioeconomic situations. However, as in other studies conducted in the Mediterranean area, Catalonia incidence is in the lower range of rates in Europe.

Key words::

• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• epidemiology
• population based study
• incidence
• Catalonia

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by Fundació La Marató de TV3. The technical assistance of Rosa Maria Pradas from The Localization Lab is gratefully acknowledged.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Appendix

Collaborators

The ALS-CAT group: Coordinating centre-Hospital de Sant Pau (Jesús Pradas,Teresa Puig, Ricard Rojas-Garcia, Maria Luisa Viguera, Ignasi Gich). Collaborating centres-Hospital Arnau de Vilanova (Pilar Granés), Hospital de Bellvitge (Mónica Povedano), Hospital Germans Trias (Jaume Coll), Hospital Clínic (Francesc Graus), Hospital Creu Roja de Barcelona (Angels Salvador), Hospital Creu Roja de l’Hospitalet (Juan Bello), Hospital de Figueres (Esther Basart), Hospital General de Catalunya (Lluis Soler), Hospital General de Manresa (Antonio Ugarte), Hospital General de Palamós (Josep Molins), Hospital General de Vic (Josep Maria Aragonés), Hospital Joan XXIII (Jaume Viñas), Hospital del Mar (Jordi Pascual), Hospital de Mataró (Pilar Fossas), Hospital Mútua de Terrassa (Imma Bonaventura), Hospital Parc Taulí (José Miguel Martinez), Hospital de Reus (Nico Ortiz), Hospital de Sant Bernabé (José María Solé), Hospital de Sant Boi (Mariano Huertas), Hospital de Sant Pere de Ribes (Alfonso Moral), Hospital de Santa Caterina (Secundino López Pousa), Hospital de Santa Coloma (Ramiro Alvarez), Hospital de Santa Tecla (Anna Pellisé), Hospital de Tortosa (Juan José Baiges), Hospital Josep Trueta (Rosa Meléndez), Unitat Coronària de Manresa (José María Soler Insa), Hospital Vall d’ Hebrón (José Gámez, Xavier Montalbán).