PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Anne E Visser
AU  - James P K Rooney
AU  - Fabrizio D’Ovidio
AU  - Henk-Jan Westeneng
AU  - Roel C H Vermeulen
AU  - Ettore Beghi
AU  - Adriano Chiò
AU  - Giancarlo Logroscino
AU  - Orla Hardiman
AU  - Jan H Veldink
AU  - Leonard H van den Berg
ED  - ,
TI  - Multicentre, cross-cultural, population-based, case–control study of physical activity as risk factor for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
AID  - 10.1136/jnnp-2017-317724
DP  - 2018 May 07
TA  - Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry
PG  - jnnp-2017-317724
4099  - http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/early/2018/05/06/jnnp-2017-317724.short
4100  - http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/early/2018/05/06/jnnp-2017-317724.full
AB  - Objective To investigate the association between physical activity (PA) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in population-based case–control studies in three European countries using a validated and harmonised questionnaire.Methods Patients with incident ALS and controls were recruited from five population-based registers in The Netherlands, Ireland and Italy. Demographic and data regarding educational level, smoking, alcohol habits and lifetime PA levels in both leisure and work time were gathered by questionnaire, and quantified using metabolic equivalent of task scores. Logistic regression models adjusting for PA-related factors were used to determine the association between PA and ALS risk, and forest plots were used to visualise heterogeneity between regions.Results 1557 patients and 2922 controls were included. We found a linear association between ALS and PA in leisure time (OR 1.07, P=0.01) and occupational activities (OR 1.06, P<0.001), and all activities combined (OR 1.06, P<0.001), with some heterogeneity between regions: the most evident association was seen in the Irish and Italian cohorts. After adjustment for other occupational exposures or exclusion of patients with a C9orf72 mutation, the ORs remained similar.Conclusion We provide new class I evidence for a positive association between PA and risk of ALS in a large multicentre study using harmonised methodology to objectively quantify PA levels, with some suggestions for population differences.