Epidemiology of Parkinson's disease in South central India - A longitudinal cohort study

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, commonly found in males above the age of 60. Increased life expectancy due to better health care and aging population will see a proportional rise in case of PD in India during next three decades making it a major health problem. Objective: There was no published epidemiological study on PD from south-central India. Hence, a longitudinal study was undertaken by a neurocenter from 2004-2015. Materials and methods: 382 patients with symptoms of PD presented to outpatient department of neurocenter between 2004-2015 were evaluated in relation with various epidemiological parameters. Results: Out of 382 subjects having clinical PD, it was found to be more common in males and in patients above the age of 60 with rural habitation. Conclusion: The present study documents the epidemiological data of PD from south-central India called Deccan plateau (Telangana state). It represents varied geographical, social, economic, cultural ethnicity among rural/urban population. There is low literacy rate, predominant rural population and insufficient health infrastructure where PD poses an invisible but major health problem for policy makers.