title: Prevalence of Parkinson's disease in Sydney.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the prevalence of Parkinson's disease (PD) in Bankstown, Sydney, using the same methodology as a previous study in Randwick, Sydney, Australia (1998-1999).
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty census districts (CDs) for the Bankstown local government area were randomly selected. Research personnel door-knocked every household within the CDs to locate people aged > or =55 years. A structured questionnaire (containing four screening questions for PD) was administered to those agreeing to participate. Screened positive participants were invited to come for a clinical examination. This is a continuation of the previous study and data have been combined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Combining data for Bankstown and Randwick gave 1028 participants; crude prevalence, 780 per 100,000 (CI: 546-1077). In Bankstown, there were 501 participants aged > or =55 years (response rate 70%); 135 were screened positive with 101 (74.8%) agreeing to a clinical examination. The prevalence of PD in the Bankstown community was 3.4% (17 of 501) (95% CI: 1.98-5.43) for those aged > or =55 years; crude prevalence 776 per 100,000 (CI: 452-1241).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The combined results of two Sydney studies appear to indicate that Sydney has one of the highest prevalence estimates of PD in developed countries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Aged Care and Rehabilitation, Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital, Bankstown, NSW, Australia. daniel.chan@swsahs.nsw.gov.au
authors.forename: D K Y
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cordato
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karr
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ong
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: W T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Hung
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*