title: A door-to-door survey to estimate the prevalence of Parkinsonism in Pakistan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Parkinson's disease (PD) occurs in all races and cultures, and population-related differences in frequency may provide etiological clues. The present study was designed to explore the prevalence of PD and Parkinsonism in Pakistan, the world's sixth most populous country, for which no published prevalence data are available.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a three-phase door-to-door survey in two districts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, to assess the prevalence of PD and Parkinsonism in a sample of 4,000 individuals aged 50 years and above.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified 14 cases of Parkinsonism, eleven with a diagnosis of idiopathic PD. The overall prevalence estimates were 1.7/100 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.9-2.46) for Parkinsonism and 1.28/100 (95% CI: 0.6-1.94) for PD in persons aged 65 years and above. The age-standardized prevalence of PD (aged 65 years and above), normalized to the USA population in 2000, was 1.33/100, which is similar to that observed in other human populations. Of the total 14 cases, five were newly diagnosed and four had a family history of PD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The estimated prevalence rates in Pakistan are similar to those observed in other human populations. The frequency of familial Parkinsonism is also equivalent to previous estimates.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Neuroscience Group, Eskitis Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Suliman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Sciences.
authors.forename: Ghulam
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nabi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Quaid-i-azam University, Islamabad.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Naeem
authors.affiliation: Saidu Medical College, Saidu Sharif Swat Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Liaqat
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: Clinical Neuroscience Group, Eskitis Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, Australia; The University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Silburn
authors.affiliation: Clinical Neuroscience Group, Eskitis Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: George D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Mellick
keywords: Parkinsonism; Parkinson’s disease; door-to-door survey