A DOOR-TO-DOOR SURVEY OF PARKINSONS-DISEASE IN A CHINESE POPULATION IN KINMEN

Background: Most published studies have shown lower prevalence rates o f Parkinson's disease (PD) in Asian and black African than in Western countries, leading to the hypothesis that Asians and blacks might be p rotected from PD. Objective: To investigate the prevalence of PD in a Chinese population. Design: Community-based survey. Setting: Registere d residents 50 years of age or older (N=5061) on the islet of Kinmen l ocated off the southeastern coast of the Republic of China (Taiwan).Me thod: Single-phase door-to-door survey by neurologists. All participan ts were administered a questionnaire and received motor examinations o f the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale. Results: The participa tion rate was 96% (N=3915) among 4158 contacted individuals. Twenty-th ree cases of PD were identified, including three cases with dementia. The crude prevalence rate of PD was 587 (95% confidence interval (CI), 373 to 884) per 100 000 persons 50 years of age or older. Assuming no case of PD among individuals under 50 years of age, the prevalence ra te was 119 (95% CI, 80 to 169) per 100 000 for the total population. C onclusions: The prevalence rates of PD in Kinmen were much higher than those reported from mainland China, but slightly lower than those rep orted from more developed countries. The present findings suggest that , instead of genetic factors, differences in case-ascertainment, life expectancy, and the length of survival with PD may be more important c ontributors to the variations in observed PD prevalence rates.