Meta-analytic evaluation of the association between head injury and risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Abstract
Head injury is considered as a potential risk factor for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, several recent studies have suggested that head injury is not a cause, but a consequence of latent ALS. We aimed to evaluate such a possibility of reverse causation with meta-analyses considering time lags between the incidence of head injuries and the occurrence of ALS. We searched Medline and Web of Science for case-control, cross-sectional, or cohort studies that quantitatively investigated the head-injury-related risk of ALS and were published until 1 December 2016. After selecting appropriate publications based on PRISMA statement, we performed random-effects meta-analyses to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Sixteen of 825 studies fulfilled the eligibility criteria. The association between head injuries and ALS was statistically significant when the meta-analysis included all the 16 studies (OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.21-1.74). However, in the meta-analyses considering the time lags between the experience of head injuries and diagnosis of ALS, the association was weaker (OR 1.21, 95% CI 1.01-1.46, time lag ≥ 1 year) or not significant (e.g. OR 1.16, 95% CI 0.84-1.59, time lag ≥ 3 years). Although it did not deny associations between head injuries and ALS, the current study suggests a possibility that such a head-injury-oriented risk of ALS has been somewhat overestimated. For more accurate evaluation, it would be necessary to conduct more epidemiological studies that consider the time lags between the occurrence of head injuries and the diagnosis of ALS.
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- Jafari S, Etminan M, Aminzadeh F, Samii A. Head injury and risk of Parkinson disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Mov Disord. 2013;28:1222–9. · DOI · Paper page
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Head Injury and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Meta-Analysis
Liu, G., Ou, S., Cui, H., Li, X., Yin, Z., Gu, D., & Wang, Z. (2021) · Neuroepidemiology · doi:10.1159/000510987 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
- Authors
- Watanabe, Y., & Watanabe, T.
- Affiliations
- Queen Mary University of London (GB)
- University College London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Watanabe, Yukari
- Venue
- European Journal of Epidemiology
- Published
- 2017-10
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 867-879
- ISSN
- 0393-2990 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-7284
- OpenAlex
- W2766736878
- Semantic Scholar
- 55dece9087bc152e4ac9965c1aef23f88f4ee43f
- Cited by
- 27
- References
- 66
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 5
- FWCI
- 1.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- European Journal of Epidemiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Horizon 2020 (656161)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Traumatic Brain Injury Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Spinal Cord Injury Research
- Keywords
- traumatic brain injury, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, reverse causality, time delay, risk factors
- MeSH terms
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Female, Craniocerebral Trauma, Humans, Risk Factors, Risk Assessment
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