Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment (Jun 2016)
A door-to-door survey to estimate the prevalence of Parkinsonism in Pakistan
Abstract
Suliman Khan,1 Ghulam Nabi,2 Muhammad Naeem,3 Liaqat Ali,4 Peter A Silburn,1,5 George D Mellick1 1Clinical Neuroscience Group, Eskitis Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, Australia; 2Department of Animal Sciences, 3Department of Biotechnology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 4Saidu Medical College, Saidu Sharif Swat Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan; 5The University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research, Brisbane, QLD, Australia Introduction: Parkinson’s disease (PD) occurs in all races and cultures, and population-related differences in frequency may provide etiological clues. The present study was designed to explore the prevalence of PD and Parkinsonism in Pakistan, the world’s sixth most populous country, for which no published prevalence data are available.Methods: We conducted a three-phase door-to-door survey in two districts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, to assess the prevalence of PD and Parkinsonism in a sample of 4,000 individuals aged 50 years and above.Results: We identified 14 cases of Parkinsonism, eleven with a diagnosis of idiopathic PD. The overall prevalence estimates were 1.7/100 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.9-2.46) for Parkinsonism and 1.28/100 (95% CI: 0.6-1.94) for PD in persons aged 65 years and above. The age-standardized prevalence of PD (aged 65 years and above), normalized to the USA population in 2000, was 1.33/100, which is similar to that observed in other human populations. Of the total 14 cases, five were newly diagnosed and four had a family history of PD.Conclusion: The estimated prevalence rates in Pakistan are similar to those observed in other human populations. The frequency of familial Parkinsonism is also equivalent to previous estimates. Keywords: Parkinsonism, Parkinson’s disease, door-to-door survey
