This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Correspondence: Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Correspondence are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kis, B. Articles by Pramstaller, P. P. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kis, B. Articles by Pramstaller, P. P. Related Collections Parkinson's disease/Parkinsonism Prevalence studies

Neurology 2002;58:1820-1825
© 2002 American Academy of Neurology

Novel three-stage ascertainment method

Prevalence of PD and parkinsonism in South Tyrol, Italy B. Kis, MD, A. Schrag, MD, Y. Ben-Shlomo, MD, C. Klein, MD, A. Gasperi, MD, F. Spoegler, MD, R. Schoenhuber, MD, MBA and P. P. Pramstaller, MD

From the Department of Neurology (Drs. Kis, Schoenhuber, and Pramstaller), Regional General Hospital Bozen/Bolzano, Department of Neurology (Dr. Gasperi), General Hospital Bruneck/Brunico, and Department of Neurology (Dr. Spoegler), General Hospital Brixen/Bressanone, Italy; Department of Neurology (Dr. Kis), Alfried Krupp Hospital, Essen, and Department of Neurology (Dr. Klein), Medical University of Luebeck, Germany; and Department of Clinical Neurology (Dr. Schrag), Institute of Neurology, London, and Department of Social Medicine (Dr. Ben-Shlomo), University of Bristol, UK.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Peter Paul Pramstaller, Department of Neurology, Regional General Hospital Bozen/Bolzano, Lorenz Boehler Street 5, I-39100 Bozen/Bolzano, Italy; e-mail: pppramsta{at}rolmail.net

Background: A number of community-based studies on the prevalence of PD have been conducted worldwide, but they are often extremely costly and time consuming.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of PD and parkinsonism for the population aged between 60 and 85 years in South Tyrol, Northern Italy, using a novel population-based three-stage ascertainment method.

Methods: Seven hundred fifty persons aged 60 to 85 years from South Tyrol received a validated screening mail questionnaire for parkinsonism. In the second stage of the ascertainment method, trained primary care physicians (PCP) identified all persons with possible parkinsonism among those screened positive. In the third stage, movement disorders specialists excluded or confirmed the diagnosis in all identified people.

Results: The response rate was 87.6%. The prevalence rate per 100 population over 65 years of age was 1.5 (95% CI 0.6 to 2.3) for PD and 2.2 (95% CI 1.2 to 3.3) for parkinsonism after having been adjusted to the 1991 European standard population. Overall, 78% (95% CI 59 to 96%) of patients with parkinsonism were newly detected through the survey.

Conclusions: The prevalence of PD and parkinsonism in people aged over 65 in South Tyrol was similar to that observed in door-to-door surveys in other European countries. The novel three-stage case ascertainment method employed proved a useful tool to substitute for expensive door-to-door surveys for prevalence studies of parkinsonism, detecting a high number of undiagnosed cases, particularly in geographically remote areas.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. C.S. Tan, N. Venketasubramanian, C. Y. Hong, S. Sahadevan, J. J. Chin, E. S. Krishnamoorthy, A. K.Y. Tan, and S. M. Saw Prevalence of Parkinson disease in Singapore: Chinese vs Malays vs Indians Neurology, June 8, 2004; 62(11): 1999 - 2004. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Jacquemont, R. J. Hagerman, M. A. Leehey, D. A. Hall, R. A. Levine, J. A. Brunberg, L. Zhang, T. Jardini, L. W. Gane, S. W. Harris, et al. Penetrance of the Fragile X-Associated Tremor/Ataxia Syndrome in a Premutation Carrier Population JAMA, January 28, 2004; 291(4): 460 - 469. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]