Objective: To describe and compare characteristics of African American (AA) and White Parkinson’s Disease (PD) patients seen in a large clinic practice at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

Background: There is limited data regarding the clinical characteristics of AA patients with PD, and this population continues to be underrepresented in research studies. Studies with small sample sizes of AA patients have suggested that AA patients may present at a later disease stage (1), be less likely to undergo surgical treatment for PD (2), are more commonly female (3), and are less likely to have a family history of PD (3).

Method: We performed a retrospective chart review on 100 AA and 100 White patients seen a UAB between 1/1/16 and 1/1/18 that had an ICD10 diagnosis code G20. Patients were grouped according to race as reported in the electronic medical record. A chart review by a movement disorder specialist (MND) verified the diagnosis of idiopathic PD and data collection. Categorical variables were compared using a chi-squared test. Interval variables were assessed for normality via the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Mann-Whitney U test was used for analysis of interval variables. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 25.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Statistical significance was defined as p<0.05.

Results: There were 67 White and 51 AA patients that were confirmed to have a clinical diagnosis of idiopathic PD and included in the analysis.  Gender, age at motor symptom onset, time from onset to diagnosis, family history of PD in 1st or 2nd degree relative, and presence of falls were not clinically significant between the two groups. However, AA patients had a higher H&Y stage (p=0.020) and were less likely to have had surgical treatment for PD (p=0.022) when compared to White patients.

Conclusion: This larger sample size of AA PD patients suggests that the age at motor symptom onset, time to diagnosis, and gender may not be different when compared to White PD patients. Interestingly, as was previously reported, AA patients seen in our clinic are less likely to undergo surgical treatment for PD and more likely to present at a higher H&Y stage. Further prospective studies are needed to identify explanations for these disparities seen in the AA population.

References: (1) Dahodwala N, Karlawish J, Siderowf A, Duda JE, Mandell DS. Delayed Parkinson’s disease diagnosis among African-Americans: the role of reporting of disability. Neuroepidemiology. 2011;36(3):150-4. (2) Chan AK, McGovern RA, Brown LT, et al. Disparities in Access to Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery for Parkinson Disease: Interaction Between African American Race and Medicaid Use. JAMA Neurol. 2014;71(3):291–299. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2013.5798 (3) Dean M, Barnes K, Standaert D. (2018), Abstracts. Mov Disord., 33: S14-S117.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/characteristics-of-african-american-parkinsons-disease-patients-seen-in-a-large-clinic-practice/