Estrogen use among nursing home residents with a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
BACKGROUND The role of estrogen in motor, cognitive, and behavioral functions in Parkinson's disease (PD) remains unclear. OBJECTIVES/METHODS To determine differences in functional, cognitive, and behavioral patterns between estrogen users and non‐users, we performed an observational study on 10,145 elderly women with PD using the Systematic Assessment in Geriatric drug use via Epidemiology (SAGE) database. The SAGE database consists of the Minimum Data Set (MDS), data collected on a cross‐section of over 400,000 nursing home (NH) residents in five US states. Using a cross‐sectional study design, we evaluated the demographics, physical and cognitive function, and mortality rates of women with PD who received estrogen (n = 195) versus those who did not receive estrogen (n = 9950). RESULTS Independent of age, estrogen users were less cognitively impaired and more independent in their activities of daily living. Surprisingly, more estrogen users were depressed and more likely to be on an antidepressant than non‐users. One‐year death rates were comparable between estrogen users and non‐users. CONCLUSION This study supports the growing number of recent data suggesting estrogen's potential beneficial effects on PD motor and cognitive functions.