Patients with PD who enrolled in the Sydney multicentre study were found to have almost twice the risk of death 15 years later, as compared to the general population.1 More than one quarter of all patients (27%) in the study died from pneumonia.1 The main causes of disability in the Sydney multicentre study were: falls, choking, autonomic disturbance, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and dementia.1,2 Dementia was more prevalent at 20 years than at 15 years (83% versus 48%, respectively).1,2 Unfortunately, none of these symptoms respond well to dopaminergic therapy.1
References:
1.Hely MA, Morris JG, Reid WG, Trafficante R. Sydney multicenter study of Parkinson’s disease: non-L-dopa-responsive problems dominate at 15 years. Mov Disord 2005; 20 (2): 190–199.
2.Hely MA, Reid WG, Adena MA, et al. The Sydney multicenter study of Parkinson’s disease: the inevitability of dementia at 20 years. Mov Disord 2008; 23 (6): 837–844.
3.Coelho M, Marti M, Tolosa E, et al. Late-stage Parkinson’s disease: the Barcelona and Lisbon cohort. J Neurol 2010; 257: 1524–1532.
4.Bäckström D, Granåsen G, Domellöf ME, et al. Early predictors of mortality in parkinsonism and Parkinson disease: a population-based study. Neurology 2018; 91 (22): e2045–e2056.
