Prevalence of Parkinson's disease in Estonia

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) in Tartu district of South Estonia, with a population of 153,240 on prevalence day, 1 January 1996. METHODS: The community-based method of case ascertainment was used, followed by neurologic examination. RESULTS: The age-adjusted prevalence was 152 per 100,000 population, 159 for urban and 139 for the rural group, 154 for men and 153 for women. The age-specific prevalence increased from 22 per 100,000 population in the age group 40-49 years up to 1232 per 100,000 population in the age group 70-79 years. The mean age of PD patients was 71.4 years, the mean age at onset of the symptoms - 66.9 years. CONCLUSIONS: When comparing the prevalence rates with other studies of Caucasian populations in Europe, the results are similar except for slightly but not significantly higher prevalence rates in the urban population in Estonia.