Research Article

Confirming Parkinson Disease Diagnosis: Patterns of Diagnostic Changes by Movement Disorder Specialists

Table 1

Characteristics of patients by stability of diagnosis.

Characteristics of patients by stability of diagnosisTotal (n = 1393)No Dx change (n = 1308)Dx change (n = 85)

Age at the first visit (years), mean (sd)70.3 (10.3)70.3 (10.3)70.4 (10.5)
Gender, n (column percent)
 Male884 (63.9)824 (63.4)60 (70.6)
 Female500 (36.1)475 (36.6)25 (29.4)
Race, n (column percent)
 White1125 (90.7)1055 (90.5)70 (93.9)
 Nonwhite116 (9.3)111 (9.5)5 (6.7)
Marital status, n (column percent)
 Married986 (71.2)924 (71.0)62 (73.8)
 Not married399 (28.8)377 (29.0)22 (26.2)
Education, n (column percent)
 College or more918 (73.6)866 (73.7)52 (72.2)
 Less than college329 (26.4)309 (26.3)20 (27.8)
Income, n (column percent)
 <50 K/year244 (25.3)226 (25.0)18 (29.0)
 >50 K/year722 (74.7)678 (75.0)44 (71.0)
Employment status, n (column percent)
 Not employed826 (59.6)771 (59.2)55 (65.5)
 Employed561 (40.4)532 (40.8)29 (34.5)
PD duration at the first visit (years), m (sd)4.5 (5.2)4.6 (5.3)3.1 (5.0)
PD duration at follow-up (years), m (sd)5.4 (3.8)5.4 (3.8)4.9 (3.7)
First CIRS-G total score, m (sd)4.9 (3.7)4.8 (3.6)6.4 (4.0)
First UPDRS motor score, m (sd)26.2 (12.6)26.0 (12.6)29.8 (12.4)
First UPDRS total score, m (sd)38.7 (18.4)38.4 (18.4)43.6 (18.3)
Change of the treating neurologist, n (column percent)
 No807 (84.6)757 (84.5)50 (86.2)
 Yes147 (15.4)139 (15.5)8 (13.8)
Levodopa at the first visit, n (column percent)
 No813 (58.4)760 (58.1)53 (62.4)
 Yes580 (41.6)548 (41.9)32 (37.6)
Levodopa at the last visit, n (column percent)
 No626 (44.9)588 (45.0)38 (44.7)
 Yes767 (55.1)720 (55.0)47 (55.3)
Dopaminergic Rx at the first visit, n (column percent)
 No658 (47.2)613 (46.9)45 (52.9)
 Yes735 (52.8)695 (53.1)40 (47.1)
Dopaminergic Rx at the last visit, n (column percent)
 No579 (41.6)546 (41.7)33 (38.8)
 Yes814 (58.4)762 (58.3)52 (61.2)
Dyskinesia at the first visit
 No1064 (80.5)986 (79.5)78 (95.2)
 Yes258 (19.5)254 (20.5)4 (4.9)
Fluctuator at the first visit
 No953 (71.8)882 (70.8)71 (81.6)
 Yes374 (28.2)363 (29.2)11 (13.4)
MMSE at the first visit, mean (sd)28.5 (2.1)28.5 (2.0)28.1 (2.7)

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