AUTHOR=Kamadi Effie Nailah , Shah Jasmit , Hooker Juzar , Jenkins Thomas M. , Sokhi Dilraj Singh 

TITLE=Clinical phenotypes of motor neurone disease in a Kenyan hospital-based population

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2025.1662690

DOI=10.3389/fneur.2025.1662690

ISSN=1664-2295

ABSTRACT=BackgroundMotor neurone disease (MND) presentation is globally heterogenous and data on the clinical phenotype in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is scarce. We sought to address this by describing the profile of MND patients in a Kenyan hospital-based population.MethodsThe medical charts of all adult MND patients assessed in the facility between January 2010 and December 2023 were retrospectively reviewed. The biographical data and clinical features of these patients were captured from their electronic and manual health records and statistical analysis performed.ResultsIn total, 160 patients had their data analyzed. The male to female ratio was 1.76:1. The median age at presentation was 55.0 (IQR: 45.0–68.0) years with a median diagnosis delay of 4.0 (IQR: 2.0–8.5) months. The site of first symptom onset was the lower limbs in 34.4% and the bulbar region in 33.1% [95% CI (26.4–42.5%)]. Notably, 59% of the patients were not tested for HIV and amongst those tested, 13.9% were HIV positive on ART. Majority (56.2%) of the patients were on Riluzole.ConclusionThis Kenyan case series of MND patients demonstrated a higher rate of bulbar onset disease [33.1, 95% CI (26.4–42.5%), p = 0.018] in comparison to what has been demonstrated in other African studies. A finding that supports geographic variation in MND presentation and that emphasizes the need for region specific genetic studies.