MOTOR-NEURON DISEASE IN HONG-KONG CHINESE - EPIDEMIOLOGY AND CLINICALPICTURE

This study documents the clinical features, incidence and prevalence o f motor neuron disease (MND) in Hong Kong Chinese. Patients with MND w ho were alive between 1989 and 1992 were recruited by retrieval of med ical records from the four major hospitals in Hong Kong, and by referr al of neurologists, neurosurgeons and medical consultants. Mortality s tatistics was provided by the Census and Statistics Department. A tota l of 84 cases were identified with a male preponderance of 1.98:1. The average annual period incidence was 0.31/100,000 and the point preval ence on December 31, 1992, was 0.95/100,000. The mean age at onset was 55.5 years (range 19-81) with a peak observed from 55 to 65 years. Th e clinical features are similar to other reported series of MND. The i ncidence and mortality of MND in Hong Kong are therefore lower than th e worldwide figures of 2.0/100,000 and 1.5/100,000, respectively.