Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, physical exercise, trauma and sports: Results of a population-based pilot case-control study

Abstract

Our objective was to investigate exposure to physical exercise and trauma in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) compared to the general population. Previous studies in this area have yielded conflicting results. Using population-based ALS registries from Italy, the UK and Ireland, newly diagnosed patients with definite, probable or possible ALS were enrolled in a case- control study with two age- and sex-matched controls for each patient. Source, intensity and duration of physical activity and history of trauma were recorded. We here present the results of a pilot investigation. We studied 61 patients and 112 controls. Forty-one per cent of cases and 17.0% of controls (p = 0.001) had blue-collar occupations; 13.1% versus 3.6% reported strenuous physical activity at work (p = 0.05). Compared with controls, ALS patients had a longer exposure to work-related (10.7 vs. 7.3 years; p = 0.02) and sport-related physical exercise (9.6 vs. 5.2 years; p = 0.005). Three patients (0 controls) reported professional sports (p = 0.04). Traumatic events were similar. Blue collar occupation (OR 4.27; 95% CI 1.68-10.88) and duration of sport-related physical exercise (OR 1.03; 95% CI 1.00-1.05) were independent variables in multivariate analysis. We concluded that ALS is associated with physical exercise but not with traumatic events.

Key words::

• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• exercise
• trauma
• occupation
• sport

Acknowledgements

The study was supported by a grant from the Istituto Superiore di Sanitä, and American ALS Association (ALSA). The research was also supported (in part) by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Aging.

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