To characterize the timing and pathway of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) diagnosis and to identify predictors of delayed diagnosis in a retrospective cohort. The cohort included all patients with incident ALS between 2010 and 2014 in Friuli-Venezia Giulia (FVG) region, Italy, admitted to two University Hospitals. Information on demographics, clinical presentation, and healthcare use was obtained from health databases and electronic medical records (EMRs). Total diagnostic time (TDT), the interval between ALS symptoms onset and diagnosis, was compared between patient groups through Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test. In this cohort, delayed diagnosis was common, particularly in older patients and in those with neurological comorbidities. Timely referral to a neurologist may improve diagnostic timing. The full article and the detailed results from the cohort study you can find here.
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