Baseline characteristics of patients with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and controls
| Patients (n=487) | Controls (n=1092) | |
| Male, n (%) | 307 (63.0) | 643 (58.9) |
| Age at onset, years, median (range) | 64.6 (23.5–86.6) | |
| Age at diagnosis, years, median (range) | 65.6 (23.8–86.9) | |
| Age at time of inclusion, years, median (range) | 66.0 (23.8–87.2) | 64.4 (17.6–86.2) |
| Level of education, n (%) | ||
| No education or elementary school | 37 (7.6) | 69 (6.3) |
| Lower secondary school or technical school | 286 (58.7) | 590 (54.0) |
| Higher secondary school | 32 (6.6) | 116 (10.6) |
| Higher professional education or university | 132 (27.1) | 317 (29.0) |
| El Escorial criteria, n (%) | ||
| Definite | 82 (16.8) | |
| Probable | 191 (39.2) | |
| Probable-laboratory supported | 139 (28.5) | |
| Possible | 63 (12.9) | |
| Unknown | 12 (2.5) | |
| Site of onset, n (%) | ||
| Bulbar | 168 (34.5) | |
| Spinal | 310 (63.7) | |
| Unknown | 9 (1.8) | |
| BMI, kg/m2, mean (SD) | 24.9 (3.7) | 26.1 (3.8) |
| Diabetes, n (%) | 28 (6.4) | 82 (8.3) |
| Hypercholesterolaemia, n (%) | 134 (31.8) | 330 (33.9) |
| Hypertension, n (%) | 161 (38.1) | 338 (35.0) |
BMI, body mass index.