UK SMA Patient Registry

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a form of motor neuron disease, most commonly caused by a mutation in the survival motor neuron 1 gene (SMN1) which results in a wide disease spectrum affecting children and adults. It is an autosomal recessive disorder and is therefore caused by inheritance of a mutated gene from each parent. All forms of SMA have an estimated combined incidence of 1 in 6,000 to 1 in 10,000 live births, with a carrier frequency of 1/40 to 1/60. The patient registry aims to facilitate a questionnaire-based research study in order to better characterise and understand the disease in the UK and in Ireland. Entry is via self-registration over a secure internet connection (https://www.sma-registry.org.uk/). Online, patients are asked to read an information sheet about the research project and then indicate their consent to demonstrate willingness to participate. Following on