Dementia in long-term Parkinson’s disease patients: a multicentre retrospective study

Jennifer Y. Y. Szeto*, Courtney C. Walton, Alexandra Rizos, Pablo Martinez-Martin, Glenda M. Halliday, Sharon L. Naismith, K. Ray Chaudhuri, Simon J. G. Lewis

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

43 Citations (Scopus)
38 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

While several studies have investigated the clinical progression of cognitive decline in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients, there has been a paucity of data on specifically evaluating PD patients with a disease duration of over 20 years. This study retrospectively investigated the frequency of dementia in PD (PDD) patients with a disease duration of over 20 years assessed in research clinics across the UK and Australia. Data from 2327 PD patients meeting the United Kingdom Parkinson’s Disease Society Brain Bank Criteria was pooled. A diagnosis of probable PDD was made according to the Movement Disorder Society Level 1 criteria. Thirty-six participants had a disease duration of at least 20 years. Of the 36 patients, only 7 (19%) were classified as probable PDD. Compared to PD patients without dementia, those with dementia had lower levels of educational attainment and exhibited more severe motor features. Additionally, 34 out of the 36 patients (94%) exhibited a non-tremor dominant phenotype. No significant differences in age, age onset, disease duration, dopaminergic medication use, and sex distribution were observed between PD patients with and without dementia. Findings from the present study suggest that the prevalence of dementia in long-term PD patients may be lower than anticipated and suggest that the trajectory of cognitive decline in PD patients can be different. These findings highlight the need to investigate factors that might affect the outcome of cognitive decline in long-term PD patients, which may lead to the determination of potential modulating factors in the development of dementia in these patients.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2
Pages (from-to)1-7
Number of pages7
Journalnpj Parkinson's Disease
Volume6
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 Jan 2020
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Copyright the Author(s) 2020. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

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