papers

Healthcare utilization in patients with Parkinson’s disease: a population-based analysis

Parkinsonism Relat Disord 18:930-935.

Movement Disorder Clinic, 200 Woodlawn Street, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

PURPOSE: To investigate factors associated with healthcare utilization and prescription drug use for Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients and matched controls.

METHODS: A retrospective matched-group design was adopted using administrative data from Manitoba, Canada. PD cases (N = 1469) were identified from diagnoses in hospital records and physician billing claims and matched to controls (N = 2938) on age, sex, and region of residence. Sixteen measures of healthcare utilization were examined over a six-year period using generalized linear models.

RESULTS: PD cases had greater healthcare utilization than controls for almost all investigated services, with the exception of visits to non-neurological specialists and hospital use for non-mental disorder diagnoses. For controls, utilization of all forms of healthcare increased with age; for PD cases the relationship was weak, except for specialist visits, where an inverse relationship was observed. A rural region of residence was associated with a lower rate of seeing a specialist or any medical doctor, with a higher rate of hospitalization than for urban cases or controls. Comorbidity was strongly associated with healthcare use for both groups. Over the six-year study period significant differences in the trend were observed for mental disorder hospitalizations, hospital days, and physician visits.

CONCLUSIONS: Factors associated with healthcare utilization in PD patients differ from those without PD. This information may help to identify and optimize healthcare services and associated costs for PD patients.

PMID: 22621819