Cognitive assessment of a sample of Egyptian patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Abstract

Background: Cognitive and behavioral changes in ALS are featured as an integral part of the disease. A noticeable proportion of ALS patients present with a full-blown picture of frontotemporal dementia, which is considered the most common form of cognitive impairment in ALS. Results: A total of 30 ALS cases and 30 sex, age and education matched healthy controls were enrolled; their sociodemographic data were statistically insignificant as regards (age, sex, education). Regarding cognitive and behavioral assessment using the ECAS-EG, both ECAS mean total score and subdomains mean scores were significantly lower in ALS patients compared to controls (p-value < 0.001), with statistically significant relation between ALS clinical staging and ECAS total scores (p-value < 0.001). Furthermore, it was found that mean scores of nearly all ECAS domains are lower in early-onset group with longer duration of illness than late onset with short duration of illness but with a non-statistically significant difference. Conclusion: ALS causes significant cognitive impairment, with relation between functional status and clinical staging of the disease with the severity of cognitive and behavioral dysfunctions and although early-onset cases had lower score on ECAS compared to those with late onset, but it was non-significant.