Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41563518›Full record

SynthesisJournal of neurology2026

The differences in sex ratio between sporadic and familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a systematic review.

Aafke Boomsma, Caitlin Doyle, Na Sai, Mary-Louise Rogers, Sang Hong Lee, Beben Benyamin

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of neurology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Aafke BoomsmaAustralian Centre for Precision Health, School of Public Health, Adelaide University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. aafke.boomsma@mymail.unisa.edu.au.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4420-5986
Caitlin DoyleAustralian Centre for Precision Health, School of Public Health, Adelaide University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0003-0471-3294
Na SaiAustralian Centre for Precision Health, School of Public Health, Adelaide University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9482-6115
Mary-Louise RogersCollege of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3482-8741
Sang Hong LeeAustralian Centre for Precision Health, School of Public Health, Adelaide University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9701-2718
Beben BenyaminAustralian Centre for Precision Health, School of Public Health, Adelaide University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. Beben.Benyamin@unisa.edu.au.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5608-2293

Funding

Australian Government Research Training ProgramFightMND DIS-202303-00932
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is more prevalent in males than in females. However, it is unclear whether the difference in sex ratio is observed similarly in sporadic compared to familial ALS. Here, we conducted a systematic review to investigate the differences in sex ratio between familial and sporadic ALS. Following the meta-analysis of observational studies in epidemiology (MOOSE) guidelines, this study searched Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, Emcare, SCOPUS and Cochrane databases. We used a random-effects meta-analysis to estimate sex ratios in a total of 9269 ALS patients (4135 female, 5134 male) across 20 included studies. We confirmed that ALS is more prevalent in males than in females (sex ratio: 1.25 (95%CI 1.14-1.37). However, when we stratified the analyses, the sex ratio was only different in sporadic ALS. Male-to-female ratios were 1.29 (95% CI 1.16-1.42) for sporadic ALS and 1.05 (95% CI 0.93-1.18) for familial ALS. A further analysis showed a pooled risk ratio of 1.07 (95% CI 1.00-1.15), indicating a 7% higher likelihood of males being diagnosed with sporadic rather than familial ALS. These findings highlight the importance of considering sex-specific factors in ALS research and clinical practice.

Indexed as

Amyotrophic Lateral SclerosisSex CharacteristicsSex RatioFemaleHumansMaleALSDiagnostic criteriaMeta-analysisMNDSex ratiosSystematic review

Identifiers

PMID41563518
PMCPMC12823662

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.