Rural Residence and Diagnostic Delay for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in Saskatchewan

Diagnostic delay in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is common. In a recent Canadian study evaluating provincial differences in care, Saskatchewan had the longest delay at 27 months. Since Saskatchewan has a large rural population, this study sought to determine whether geographically determined access to a neurologist at tertiary centers could be contributing to this lengthy delay.

A retrospective chart review of 171 patients seen in the ALS clinic in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan was performed. Urban or rural location, distance from nearest tertiary center, and clinically relevant data were collected.

There was no difference between urban and rural populations for delay in symptom onset to diagnosis. For rural patients, linear regression modeling did not uncover a significant relationship between distance from tertiary center and time to diagnosis. Additionally, there were no differences between urban and rural dwellers either for referral or utilization of feeding tube, noninvasive ventilation, riluzole, or communication devices. Contrary to the previous data showing a 27-month diagnostic delay in Saskatchewan, our study which included a larger provincial population found the mean diagnostic delay was 16.6 months.

This study did not uncover differences in diagnostic delay or ALS care between urban and rural dwellers. Further study is required to determine reproducibility of results.