Number (%) of people admitted to hospital with motor neuron disease, multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's disease in each age group stratum, with the matching ratio of numbers of cases in the reference cohort per case in each age stratum with each neurological disease
| Age group (years) | Motor neuron disease* | Multiple sclerosis† | Parkinson's disease‡ | ||||||
| Males (n (%)) | Females (n (%)) | Matching ratio | Males (n (%)) | Females (n (%)) | Matching ratio | Males (n (%)) | Females (n (%)) | Matching ratio | |
| <25 | 28 (3.3) | 20 (3.4) | 4362 | 86 (5.9) | 191 (6.8) | 972 | 6 (0.3) | 5 (0.2) | 24482 |
| 25–29 | 16 (1.9) | 6 (1.0) | 1840 | 103 (7.2) | 286 (10.2) | 104 | 1 (0.1) | 2 (0.1) | 13491 |
| 30–34 | 11 (1.3) | 8 (1.4) | 1807 | 152 (10.6) | 310 (11.0) | 74 | 4 (0.2) | 3 (0.1) | 4904 |
| 35–39 | 22 (2.6) | 10 (1.7) | 941 | 183 (12.7) | 323 (11.5) | 60 | 4 (0.2) | 8 (0.4) | 2509 |
| 40–44 | 26 (3.1) | 12 (2.0) | 731 | 139 (9.7) | 341 (12.1) | 58 | 11 (0.5) | 4 (0.2) | 1853 |
| 45–49 | 33 (4.0) | 15 (2.5) | 564 | 179 (12.4) | 338 (12.0) | 52 | 17 (0.8) | 11 (0.5) | 967 |
| 50–54 | 75 (8.9) | 40 (6.8) | 230 | 183 (12.7) | 286 (10.2) | 56 | 30 (1.4) | 29 (1.3) | 449 |
| 55–59 | 75 (8.9) | 57 (9.6) | 192 | 137 (9.5) | 218 (7.8) | 71 | 70 (3.3) | 58 (2.6) | 198 |
| 60–64 | 142 (17.0) | 74 (12.5) | 111 | 116 (8.1) | 185 (6.5) | 79 | 106 (4.9) | 98 (4.4) | 117 |
| 65–69 | 125 (14.9) | 82 (13.9) | 103 | 73 (5.1) | 138 (4.9) | 101 | 223 (10.4) | 186 (8.4) | 52 |
| 70–74 | 128 (15.3) | 109 (18.4) | 79 | 54 (3.8) | 90 (3.2) | 76 | 407 (18.8) | 354 (16.1) | 25 |
| 75–79 | 92 (11.0) | 83 (14.0) | 84 | 18 (1.3) | 61 (2.2) | 186 | 549 (25.5) | 524 (23.8) | 14 |
| 80–84 | 45 (5.4) | 45 (7.6) | 102 | 12 (0.8) | 33 (1.2) | 205 | 418 (19.4) | 507 (23.0) | 10 |
| 85+ | 20 (2.4) | 30 (5.2) | 134 | 3 (0.2) | 12 (0.4) | 447 | 304 (14.1) | 416 (18.9) | 9 |
| Total | 838 (100.0) | 591 (100.0) | 403 | 1438 (100.0) | 2812 (100.0) | 135 | 2150 (100.0) | 2205 (100.0) | 132 |
↵* ICD codes used for motor neuron disease, and the precise nomenclature in the coding manual, were: ICD7 356 used from 1963 to 1967 (motor neurone disease and muscular atrophy—the code 356.2 was ‘spinal type of muscular atrophy’ and we excluded it); ICD8 348 used from 1968–78 (motor neurone disease); ICD9 335.2 used from 1979–1994 (motor neurone disease); ICD10 G12.2 used from 1995 (motor neuron disease).
↵† ICD codes used for multiple sclerosis were: ICD7 345; ICD8 340; ICD9 340; ICD10 G35 (all four edition codes specified ‘multiple sclerosis’).
↵‡ ICD codes used for Parkinson's disease were: ICD7 350 (paralysis agitans, with subheadings (but not separately identifiable codes) for Parkinson's syndrome, Parkinsonian epilepsy, Parkinsonism); ICD8 342 (nomenclature as for ICD7); ICD9 332 (Parkinson's disease); ICD10 G20 (Parkinson's disease).