Prevalence of Parkinson's disease in lower Aragon, Spain

✍ Scribed by Jose M. Errea; Jose R. Ara; Carlos Aibar; Jesus de Pedro-Cuesta

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 215 KB
• Volume: 14
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-3185
• DOI: 10.1002/1531-8257(199907)14:4<596::aid-mds1008>3.0.co;2-u

✦ Synopsis

OBJECTIVE: We attempted to measure the prevalence of Parkinson's disease (PD) and to improve PD diagnosis in Lower Aragon (LA), a rural area located in northeast Spain with an elderly population numbering 60,724.

METHODS: Hospital records and a questionnaire targeted at general practitioners and retirement home personnel were used for case finding. Neurologic diagnoses were ascertained by a neurologist using a clinicoepidemiologic protocol and established diagnostic criteria after examining 84% of patients diagnosed with PD. Using stratified analysis, a comparison was run against reported PD prevalence from worldwide door-todoor surveys.

RESULTS: On the prevalence date, 134 individuals were found to be affected with PD. The prevalence per 100,000 population was 220.6 (crude) and 121.9 when age-adjusted using the European Standard Population. Prevalence increased with age, declining at 90 years and over. Questionnaires returned by general practitioners disclosed 20% of the prevalent PD cases. The prevalence of PD in pooled European populations was 2.56 times (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.02-3.24) greater than that found in our study. CONCLUSION: PD prevalence in Lower Aragon ranks at levels similar to those reported for white populations (European and non-European). One out of two individuals with PD was estimated to be undiagnosed before and three out of eight after the study.