Initial pharmacotherapy in a population of veterans with Parkinson disease.
The authors analyzed patient and prescribing provider characteristics for 530 veterans identified from VA pharmacy records with Parkinson disease (PD) and initial pharmacotherapy. Neurologists prescribed 29% of initial therapy. While a patient being younger and seeing a movement disorder specialist predicted receiving dopamine agonists, only 20% of patients younger than age 65 years received dopamine agonists. Initial pharmacotherapy is strongly influenced by the provider's specialty but mostly initiated by providers without PD expertise.
Swarztrauber
Kari
K
Parkinson Disease Research Education and Clinical Center, Portland VA Medical Center, Portland, OR, USA. swarztra@ohsu.edu
Koudelka
Caroline
C
Brodsky
Matthew A
MA