title: Epidemiological study and clinical profile of Parkinson's disease in the Assiut Governorate, Egypt: a community-based study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Few comprehensive epidemiological studies of the prevalence of Parkinson's disease (PD) have been undertaken in Arab countries, and none has been carried out in Egypt. A community-based survey was conducted in the Assiut Governorate to estimate the prevalence and clinical profile of PD.
  
  
  METHODS
  A community-based study was carried out, with random sampling of 7 districts, involving 6,498 inhabitants. Out of this sample, 578 subjects dropped out, leaving 3,066 males (51.8%) and 2,854 females (48.2%). There were 3,660 urban residents (61.8%) and 2,260 (38.2%) from the rural community. Patients were evaluated using a screening questionnaire, the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale and the Non-Motor Symptoms Scale for PD.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-nine subjects were found to have parkinsonism, giving a crude prevalence rate of 659/100,000 inhabitants. Of these subjects, 33 were diagnosed with PD (21 males), with a mean age of 66.9 ± 8.4 years, a crude prevalence rate of 557/100,000 and an age-specific prevalence rate (≥50 years old) of 2,748/100,000. There were more males than females (3,395 vs. 1,989/100,000), but the difference was not significant. The highest age-specific prevalence rate was recorded among subjects 70-79 years old (7,263/100,000). There was a significantly higher prevalence among rural than urban inhabitants (973 vs. 301/100,000) and among illiterate than literate persons (1,103 vs. 280/100,000). The clinical profile of our patients was similar to that of other populations but was characterized by a high prevalence of mood/cognition dysfunction and gastrointestinal symptoms; there were few reported perceptual problems.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The overall prevalence of PD was high, especially in older adults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Assiut University Hospital, Assiut, Egypt. emankhedr99@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Eman M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Khedr
authors.forename: Ghada S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Al Attar
authors.forename: Mahmoud R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Kandil
authors.forename: Nageh F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Kamel
authors.forename: Noha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Abo Elfetoh
authors.forename: Mohamed A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ahmed
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D018476:Hypokinesia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D020018:Sexual Dysfunctions, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult