Parkinson's disease case ascertainment in a large prospective cohort.
<h4>Background</h4>In epidemiologic studies where physician-based case adjudication is not feasible, Parkinson's disease (PD) case ascertainment is often limited to self-reports which may not be accurate. We evaluated strategies to identify PD cases in the Agricultural Health Study...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2021-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0251852&type=printable |
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| Summary: | <h4>Background</h4>In epidemiologic studies where physician-based case adjudication is not feasible, Parkinson's disease (PD) case ascertainment is often limited to self-reports which may not be accurate. We evaluated strategies to identify PD cases in the Agricultural Health Study (AHS).<h4>Methods</h4>Doctor-diagnosed PD was self-reported on all cohort-wide surveys; potential cases were also identified from death certificates. Follow-up surveys asked about PD-related motor and non-motor symptoms. For PD confirmation, we collected additional diagnosis, symptom, and treatment data from 510 potential PD cases or their proxy (65% of those contacted) in a supplemental screener and obtained medical records for a subset (n = 65). We classified PD cases using established criteria and screener data.<h4>Results</h4>Of 510 potential PD cases, 75% were considered "probable" or "possible"; this proportion increased among participants diagnosed by a specialist (81.2%), taking PD medication (85.2%), or reporting ≥5 motor symptoms (86.8%) in a regular AHS survey. Of those with medical records, 93% (57 of 61) of probable or possible PD was confirmed. Never-smoking and non-motor and motor symptoms reported in prior AHS surveys were more common with probable/possible PD than unconfirmed PD.<h4>Conclusion</h4>In this retrospective PD case ascertainment effort, we found that PD self-report with information on motor symptoms or medications may be a reasonable alternative for identifying PD cases when physician exam is not feasible. Because of intervening mortality, screeners could not be obtained from about one-third of those contacted. Thus, findings warrant replication. |
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| ISSN: | 1932-6203 |