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Table 1 Patients characteristics

From: Is the effect of non-invasive ventilation on survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis age-dependent?

  Group 1 (age ≤ 65 years) Group 2 (age > 65 years)
  NIV (n = 23) Conventional (n = 19) p value Number of total NIV (n = 18) Conventional (n = 24) p value Number of total
Male / Female 10 / 13 10 / 9 0.6 20 / 22 9 / 9 8 / 16 0.3 17 / 25
Bulbar onset, number of patients (%) 9 (39%) 10 (53%) 0.4 19 / 42 5 (28%) 13 (54%) 0.1 18 / 42
Use of PEG, number of patients (%) 13 (57%) 10 (53%) 0.8 23 / 42 8 (44%) 10 (42%) 0.9 18 / 42
Use of riluzole, number of patients (%) 10 (43%) 11 (58%) 0.4 21 / 42 7 (39%) 5 (21%) 0.2 12 / 42
Hypertension or other cardiovascular diseases, number of patients (%) 8 (35%) 3 (16%) 0.3* 11 / 42 12 (67%) 11 (46%) 0.2 23 / 42
Median time from onset of symptoms until diagnosis, months (range) 12 (2 – 36) 10 (3 – 24) 0.5**   12 (7 – 60) 12 (1 – 54) 0.8**  
Median age at diagnosis, years (range) 61 (49 – 65) 58 (49 – 65) 0.3**   76 (66 – 85) 77 (66 – 84) 0.7**  
  1. NIV = non-invasive ventilation, Conventional = no assisted ventilation, PEG = percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy. The differences between the two groups were assessed using the Chi square test, except for number of patients having hypertension or other cardiovascular diseases, which was assessed with Fisher’s exact test*. The values for median age at diagnosis and time from onset of symptoms until diagnosis were compared with the Mann Whitney U test**. P values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
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BMC Palliative Care

ISSN: 1472-684X

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