Treatment disparities in Parkinson's disease.
We sought to identify racial disparities in the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD). We identified 307 incident PD cases using Pennsylvania State Medicaid claims, and extracted claims for medications, physical therapy, and healthcare visits for the 6 months after diagnosis. After controlling for age, sex, and geography, African-Americans were four times less likely than whites to receive any PD treatment (odds ratio, 0.24; 95% confidence interval, 0.09-0.64), especially indicated medications. In a group with the same healthcare insurance, disparities in PD treatment exist. Physician and community awareness of these racial differences in PD treatment is the first step in addressing healthcare disparities.
Dahodwala
Nabila
N
Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. dahodwan@mail.med.upenn.edu
Xie
Ming
M
Noll
Elizabeth
E
Siderowf
Andrew
A
Mandell
David S
DS
D001741:Black or African American; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008484:Medicaid; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000628:therapy*; D010414:Pennsylvania; D014481:United States; D014505:Urban Population; D044465:White People
D000978:Antiparkinson Agents