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Observational Study
. 2018;8(1):141-144.
doi: 10.3233/JPD-161057.

Increased Prevalence of Polyneuropathy in Parkinson's Disease Patients: An Observational Study

Christian Conradt  1 , Dianlin Guo  1 , Anca Miclea  2 , Thomas Nisslein  2 , Chaim Ismail  3 , Krai Chatamra  1 , Frank Andersohn  4
Affiliations
Observational Study

Increased Prevalence of Polyneuropathy in Parkinson's Disease Patients: An Observational Study

Christian Conradt et al. J Parkinsons Dis. 2018.

Abstract

Background: The independent contribution of levodopa exposure and Parkinson's disease (PD) to the risk of polyneuropathy is not established.

Objective: This study investigated whether patients with newly diagnosed PD without previous exposure to antiparkinsonian drugs have higher prevalence of polyneuropathy than the general population.

Methods: Using the UK General Practice Research Database, presence of polyneuropathy in the previous 3 years was assessed.

Results: Of 5089 PD patients and 19,897 controls, polyneuropathy was confirmed in 15 PD patients (0.29% ) and 24 controls (0.12% ). Polyneuropathy prevalence was 2.4-fold higher in PD patients than controls.

Conclusions: In this observational study, PD patients had a higher prevalence of preexisting polyneuropathy that cannot be explained by adverse effects of antiparkinsonian drugs.

Keywords: Parkinson’s disease; Polyneuropathy; observational study.

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