[The medical care of patients with Parkinson's disease in a general hospital].
BACKGROUND
The Parkinsonian syndromes create an important need for local health care mainly at the level of hospital outpatient departments or health centres.


OBJECTIVE
In this article we analyze the neurological attention received by this group of patients in the setting of a general hospital with a system of providing care for such patients involving little contact between the hospital neurological department and the neuropsychiatric services available at the level of health centre.


METHODS
A retrospective study was made of the medical care given to a group of 63 patients seen in the neurological department of Hospital General de Castellón. The frequency of visits to the hospital outpatient department was 0.12/1,000 inhabitants/year for the first visit and 2.25/1,000 inhabitants/year for second visits. This was 5.5% and 15% respectively of the total patients seen in the outpatient department. Hospital admission of Parkinson patients to the Neurology ward for causes directly related to their condition made up 1.37% of all neurology admissions and 0.04% of the total hospital admissions during the period studied. We found that in our hospital practice only a small number of patients with this disease were attended and these were late in reaching our clinic. Usually they were referred by the rehabilitation and rheumatology departments rather than the neuropsychiatric services at the health centre hospital outpatient.


CONCLUSIONS
It is necessary to study how neurological care of this group of patients can be standardized in our community and to clearly define the minimum requirements and place of each level of care involved in the treatment of this group of patients.
Escudero-Torrella
J
J
Sección de Neurologia, Hospital General de Castellón, España.
D000553:Ambulatory Care; D001509:Bed Occupancy; D006760:Hospitalization; D006769:Hospitals, General / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007902:Length of Stay; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010343:Patient Admission; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology
Asistencia al paciente con enfermedad de Parkinson en un hospital general.