Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Incidence and prevalence of Parkinson’s disease in the Italian region of Umbria: a population-based study using healthcare administrative databases

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:
Neurological Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease is known to pose a significant burden on society in industrialized countries. However, few studies have been conducted in Italy using administrative healthcare databases for epidemiological purposes. We wanted to estimate the incidence and prevalence rates of Parkinson’s disease in the Italian region of Umbria by means of linkage between several sources of administrative healthcare data: hospitalization episodes, exemptions from medical charges, drug prescriptions from general practitioners and physicians working in the public sector. Using a pre-defined algorithm, we estimated incident and prevalent cases of Parkinson’s disease for the year 2016. The regional incidence rate, adjusted with Italian standard population data, was 0.40 new cases/1000 person-years (0.41 in females, 0.39 in males). We estimated that 5550 subjects were affected by Parkinson’s disease, leading to an age-adjusted prevalence rate of 5.42/1000 inhabitants. Prevalence and incidence increased with age and male gender. However, due to the longer life expectancy of females, the absolute number of prevalent cases was greater among females. The heterogeneity of spatial distribution of disease was high. A considerable proportion of prevalent cases was hospitalized in 2016. The most recurrent reasons for hospitalization episodes were disorders related to the nervous system, respiratory system, cardiovascular system, and musculoskeletal and connective tissue apparatus. The study findings support the feasibility of future epidemiological studies of Parkinson’s disease with administrative data as well as the need for an integrative care pathway for the patients with Parkinson’s disease.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

References

  1. Pringsheim T, Jette N, Frolkis A, Steeves TDL (2014) The prevalence of Parkinson ’ s disease : a systematic review and meta-analysis. Mov Disord 29:1583–1590. https://doi.org/10.1002/mds.25945

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Benchimol EI, Manuel DG, T. To, Griffiths AM, Rabeneck L, Guttmann A (2011) Development and use of reporting guidelines for assessing the quality of validation studies of health administrative data. J Clin Epidemiol 64:821–829. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2010.10.006

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Valent F, Devigili G, Rinaldo S, Del Zotto S, Tullio A, Eleopra R (2018) The epidemiology of Parkinson’s disease in the Italian region Friuli Venezia Giulia: a population-based study with administrative data. Neurol Sci 39:699–704. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-018-3273-x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Totaro R, Marini C, Pistoia F, Sacco S, Russo T, Carolei A (2005) Prevalence of Parkinson’s disease in the L’Aquila district, Central Italy. Acta Neurol Scand 112:24–28. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0404.2005.00426.x

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Tominz R, Marin L, Mezzarobba S (2015) Estimate of the prevalence of Parkinson’s disease by using electronic health archives. Recenti Prog Med 106:97–102. https://doi.org/10.1701/1790.19496.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Baldacci F, Policardo L, Rossi S, Ulivelli M, Ramat S, Grassi E, Palumbo P, Giovannelli F, Cincotta M, Ceravolo R, Sorbi S, Francesconi P, Bonuccelli U (2015) Reliability of administrative data for the identification of Parkinson’s disease cohorts. Neurol Sci 36:783–786. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-015-2062-z

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Italian Ministry of Health (Grant GR-2013-02357757). The Movement Disorders Center of the University of Perugia was supported by a grant from New York University School of Medicine and The Marlene and Paolo Fresco Institute for Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders, which was made possible with support from Marlene and Paolo Fresco. We are grateful to Kathy Mahan for English editing of the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Regional Health Authority of Umbria, Perugia, Italy

    Paolo Eusebi, David Franchini, Marcello De Giorgi, Iosief Abraha, Alessandro Montedori & Paola Casucci

  2. Neurology Clinic, University of Perugia, Ospedale S. Maria della Misericordia, Perugia, Italy

    Paolo Eusebi, Paolo Calabresi & Nicola Tambasco

  3. Fondazione IRCSS Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy

    Paolo Calabresi

Authors
  1. Paolo Eusebi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David Franchini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marcello De Giorgi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Iosief Abraha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Alessandro Montedori
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Paola Casucci
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Paolo Calabresi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Nicola Tambasco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paolo Eusebi.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Eusebi, P., Franchini, D., De Giorgi, M. et al. Incidence and prevalence of Parkinson’s disease in the Italian region of Umbria: a population-based study using healthcare administrative databases. Neurol Sci 40, 1709–1712 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-019-03872-w

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-019-03872-w

Keywords

Search

Navigation