A Systematic Review of the Worldwide Prevalence and Incidence of Parkinson’s Disease
Weerasak Muangpaisan MD, MPhil*, Aju Mathews MBBS, MPhil**, Hiroyuki Hori MD, MSc**,***, David Seidel MPhil**
Affiliation : * Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand ** Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK *** Office of Medical Safety, General Affairs Division, Health Policy Bureau, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Tokyo, Japan
Background : A number of epidemiologic studies of Parkinson’s disease (PD) have been conducted worldwide over the years.
Although every study reported the rise in prevalence and incidence rate of PD with the increasing age, the overall estimates
were different across countries. The variation in reported data may partly be contributed by case ascertainment, case finding
method, data collection, and most importantly different population structures.
Objective : Systematically review prevalence and incidence of PD and find the causes of variation in the results.
Material and Method: A literature search was conducted on Medline and EMBASE for studies worldwide investigating the
prevalence and incidence of PD and included all adults, English and publication between 1965 and January 2010.The
primary search of both databases yielded 5,330 results. After screening topics and abstracts, 168 relevant abstracts were
tagged and saved for more thorough perusal. Ultimately, 40 papers were selected for review after applying the pre-specified
inclusion criteria
Results : The worldwide prevalence of PD varies widely. One reason for the variation in prevalence estimates could be due to
the differences in survival across countries. The use of epidemiological studies using medical records could be another
reason for the variation in disease frequency.
Conclusion : PD is common in the elderly. A number of descriptive epidemiologic studies have been conducted worldwide.
Comparing the incidence and prevalence of Parkinson’s disease is difficult.
Keywords : Parkinson’s disease, Parkinsonism, Epidemiology, Prevalence, Incidence
