Perceived unmet needs for health care among Parkinson's Society of New Zealand members with Parkinson's disease.
We surveyed nationwide health needs for Parkinson's disease (PD) among New Zealand Parkinson's Society members with PD.


BACKGROUND
Little literature assesses how people with PD perceive their health needs for this medical condition.


METHODS
Cross-sectional survey of health needs through personal, structured telephone interviews with a random sample of 500 Parkinson's Society members with PD.


RESULTS
Many participants wanted improved access to specialist care but their reported attendance rates suggest provider adherence to guideline recommendations. More general practitioners (GPs) than specialists were said to offer less information than wanted. Getting enough information in usual care was the best predictor (odds ratio 3.44, 95% CI: 1.93-6.13, p=0.000) of seeing a specialist for PD as often as wanted.


CONCLUSIONS
People with PD have an important perspective in assessments of their health needs. GPs require training support in providing patient information about PD. Our study results may apply to Parkinson's Society members in similar health systems.
Buetow
Stephen
S
Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Auckland, Private Bag, Auckland, New Zealand. s.buetow@auckland.ac.nz
Giddings
Lynne S
LS
Williams
Lisa
L
Nayar
Shoba
S
D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D013038:Specialization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013689:Telephone