Cohort Profile: A population-based cohort to study non-motor symptoms in parkinsonism (EPIPARK)

• Published in: International journal of epidemiology Vol. 42; no. 1; pp. 128 - 128k
• Main Authors: Kasten, Meike, Hagenah, Johann, Graf, Julia, Lorwin, Anne, Vollstedt, Eva-Juliane, Peters, Elke, Katalinic, Alexander, Raspe, Heiner, Klein, Christine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Oxford University Press 01.02.2013
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biological and medical sciences; Case-Control Studies; Cohort Studies; Depression - epidemiology; Depression - etiology; Epidemiology; Female; General aspects; Germany - epidemiology; Humans; Male; Mass Screening; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; Motor Activity; Neuropsychological Tests; Parkinson Disease - complications; Parkinson Disease - diagnosis; Parkinson Disease - epidemiology; Parkinson Disease - psychology; Population Surveillance - methods; Prevalence; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Quality of Life; Sensation Disorders - epidemiology; Sensation Disorders - etiology; Sleep Wake Disorders - epidemiology; Sleep Wake Disorders - etiology; Socioeconomic Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial; Germany; Parkinsonism; Nervous system diseases; Motor system disorder; Cohort study; Population; Neurological disorder; Epidemiology; Statistical study; Public health
• ISSN: 0300-5771; 1464-3685; 1464-3685
• DOI: 10.1093/ije/dys202

Parkinson's disease is increasingly viewed as a complex disorder including a range of typical non-motor symptoms in addition to the cardinal motor signs. This cohort was set up in 2010 to investigate the specificity of non-motor symptoms for Parkinson's disease. For this, we included several control groups with decreasing contrast from Parkinson's disease patients. Group definitions ranged from healthy control subjects to those with suspected early motor signs of parkinsonism. Using a mailed questionnaire, we screened 5838 inhabitants of Lübeck, Germany, out of a target population of 10 000 citizens, enquiring about motor impairment, pain, quality of life, comorbidities, somatization and demographics. Based on this information, participants were assigned to screening groups, and selected participants were invited for in-person examination (n = 623). The examination included cognitive examinations, transcranial ultrasound, a brief psychiatric interview and a standardized motor examination that was used to assign examination groups. In addition, all participants answered questionnaires addressing depression, anxiety, sleep and quality of life. The first-year follow-up examination was performed either in person using the same protocol or via mailed questionnaires. This study is ongoing and publications are in preparation, but you may contact the first author (meike.kasten@neuro.uni-luebeck.de) with suggestions for collaboration or data requests.