title: Parkinson's disease--Part 1: Pathophysiology, symptoms, burden, diagnosis, and assessment.
abstract: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease associated with substantial morbidity, increased mortality, and high economic burden. Of importance to managed care is that the number of cases of PD are on the rise, paralleling the advancing age of the population, and misdiagnosis is common. Effective management of PD can minimize disability and potentially improve long-term outcomes, which would minimize long-term healthcare costs and medical resource utilization. This article provides a brief review of the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical course, and burden of PD.
authors.affiliation: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Weintraub
authors.forename: Cynthia L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Comella
authors.forename: Stacy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Horn
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D017028:Caregivers; D017281:Cost of Illness; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008329:Managed Care Programs; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile