Table 2: Duration of 248 MS Attacks, According to Attack-Related Characteristics

Attack duration a
short intermediate long p-value
Predictive Factor N % N % N %
Number of FSs involved
Monosymptomatic 59 39.6 53 35.6 37 24.8
Bisymptomatic 17 29.8 25 43.9 15 26.3 <0.0005c
Polysymptomatic 7 16.7 11 26.2 24 57.1
Type of FS involvedd
Pyramidal yes 30 30.6 35 35.7 33 33.7 n.s.
no 53 35.3 54 36.0 43 28.7
Cerebellar yes 10 31.2 9 28.1 13 40.6 n.s.
no 73 33.8 80 37.0 63 29.2
Brainstem yes 18 35.3 19 37.3 14 27.5 n.s.
no 65 33.0 70 35.5 64 31.5
Visual yes 23 33.3 23 33.3 23 33.3 n.s.
no 60 33.5 66 36.9 53 29.6
Sphincteric yes 2 8.7 6 26.1 15 65.2 <0.001
no 81 36.0 83 36.9 61 27.1
Sensory yes 31 24.0 49 38.0 49 38.0 =0.002
no 52 43.7 40 33.6 27 22.7
Severity
Very mild 21 32.3 32 49.2 12 18.5
Mild 38 42.7 26 29.2 25 28.1
Moderate 18 30.5 19 32.2 22 37.3 =0.003c
Severe 6 17.1 12 34.3 17 48.6

a Calculated as the time between the date of onset of the first symptom and the date of maximum improvement of the last symptom and categorized as short (≤ 30 days), intermediate (31-60 days) and long (>60 days).
See Table 1 for the other definitionsThe following factors were not statistically related to duration: attack therapy, age and season of onset of the attack, infections in the preceding month, speed of onset, gender, age at first attack, season of birth and of first attack, oligoclonal bands at CSF examination, Link Index, CSF IgG, total number of lesions and number of gadolinium-enhancing lesions at first brain MRI, and recovery after the first relapse (see table 1 for definitions).