Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder.8 These disorders are characterized by a progressive loss of nerve cells in the brain which affects motor function in patients. Despite this, very few studies have been conducted in the United Kingdom (UK) to explore PD estimates in the last few decades.1-5 Reported prevalence ranges from 105 to 178 persons with Parkinson's per 100,000 population (adjusted for age),1,3 further compounding our limited knowledge. Effectively, this means the number of Parkinson's cases in the UK could range anywhere from 51,000 to 120,000. With such a broad spectrum in reported statistics, the true extent of PD within the UK population remains unclear. Further work is required to refine these figures.
The purposed study will evaluate annual Parkinson's trends calculated for the last 27 years in the UK from 1987-2014 using anonymized medical data provided by the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). Parkinson's cases will be identified using Read codes. Prevalence and incidence will be grouped by geographic region, age, and sex. Annual rates will be used to estimate overall prevalence and incidence of PD within the UK. These estimates will be adjusted for misdiagnosis and under-diagnosis of PD. Results will be used to campaign for greater accessibility health and social care services on behalf of people living with Parkinson's and their families.
The overall objective to update current estimates for UK incidence and prevalence of Parkinson's disease using the most current available data in the CPRD. The updated estimates will include stratification into relevant administrative and health geographies as well as relevant age-sex distributions.
This study will attempt to identify all available cases of Parkinson's disease from 1987 through the end of 2014 using a convenience sample of patient information submitted to the CPRD from participating General Practice facilities throughout the UK. Cases will be identified using GP Read Codes queried from the medical record. The overall annual number of patients registered in the CPRD will also be included and used as a denominator for incidence and prevalence calculations.
All statistical analyses will be conducted using SPSS v23. Where appropriate, summary tables will be provided using standard descriptive statistics for both continuous and categorical variables. Age-sex pyramids will be produced to show the overall age-sex distributions of both cases and annual CPRD counts.
Amy Morrison - Chief Investigator - Parkinson's UK
Amy Morrison - Collaborator - Parkinson's UK