Long–term survival of Parkinson's disease

Abstract
In a set of a population– based study, long–term survival of 59 prevalent PD patients was compared with that of individuals free of neurological diseases matched 1:2 by sex and age of enrolment. PD individuals, compared with reference subjects, showed a two–fold increased risk of death (OR 2.1; 95 % CI 1.4, 3.1). Among causes of death, pneumonia and cachexia were significantly more frequent among PD patients than among individuals free of neurological diseases. We confirmed in a long–term follow–up study an increased mortality among PD individuals compared with that of the general population.