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Present mortality in Parkinson's disease: the ratio of observed to expected deaths with a method to calculate expected deaths

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Summary

Excess mortality,i.e. more deaths than expected in a similar normal population, has been reduced in Parkinson's disease by levodopa. A California series and a large collaborative study throughout the United States show the ratio of observed to expected deaths to be normal. In contrast, a New York study with similar patients and a Montreal group of much more severely disabled patients show greater mortality. The reasons for these differences are unclear, but some variation in results may be attributed to different methods of calculating expected deaths to derive the ratio of observed to expected deaths.

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Author notes

  1. S. G. Diamond

    Present address: Department of Neurology, Reed Neurological Research Center, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Reed Neurological Research Center, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Ch. H. Markham

Authors
  1. S. G. Diamond
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  2. Ch. H. Markham
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Additional information

Dedicated to Prof. Dr.W. Birkmayer on the occasion of his 65th birthday.

The support of the Murdy Foundation and the Arthur Rosenberg Foundation is gratefully acknowledged.

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Diamond, S.G., Markham, C.H. Present mortality in Parkinson's disease: the ratio of observed to expected deaths with a method to calculate expected deaths. J. Neural Transmission 38, 259–269 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01249443

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01249443

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