title: Risk of dementia in patients with Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, and severe head trauma: a register-based follow-up study.
abstract: The authors investigated the risk of developing dementia for persons aged 50-75 years who suffered from Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, or severe head trauma. They compared the risk in this patient group with the risk in a reference group in a follow-up study based on the linked databases of three Dutch nationwide morbidity registers over the years 1980-1989. The overall relative risk of developing dementia within 8 years in patients with Parkinson's disease who were initially free of dementia was 3.0 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.9-3.1). Risk was especially increased in younger Parkinson's disease patients (relative risk (RR) = 13.2, 95% CI 6.2-28.6). For patients with epilepsy, the overall relative risk was 1.5 (95% CI 1.4-1.7). Severe head trauma was not associated with an increased risk of dementia (RR = 1.0, 95% CI 0.9-1.1). These findings suggest that Parkinson's disease is an important risk factor for dementia, with a particularly high risk in young patients with Parkinson's disease. Patients with epilepsy may bear a moderately increased risk of developing dementia. This study does not support earlier findings in retrospective case-control studies of an increased risk of dementia in head trauma patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Erasmus University Medical School, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Breteler
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: de Groot
authors.forename: L K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: van Romunde
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hofman
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013997:Time Factors