Objective: To estimate the number of individuals living with PD globally in 2020.

Background: Although previous studies have estimated PD prevalence in many countries, the number of individuals with PD globally in 2020 has not been estimated.

Method: We comprehensively reviewed the literature for recent and reliable prevalence estimates of PD globally. The Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) was the only source available that provided an overall global estimate, with 2017 the most recent year available from the published manuscript or online tools [1]. We verified the estimates of the PD prevalence of several countries that comprised the GBD summary estimate, by reviewing the individual publications and comparing them to the GBD estimates. GBD estimates tended to be in the lower range but close to estimates from the individual papers. For all but two countries (US and Canada), we applied the GBD prevalence proportions in 2017. For the US and Canada, we applied more recent prevalence proportions by Marras et al. 2018 [2]. We assessed the worldwide PD population in 2020 by multiplying the most reliable prevalence proportions by the corresponding 2020 population, using CDC data for US, Statistics Canada for Canada, Eurostat for European countries and UN population estimates for the rest of the world.

Results: Globally, an estimated 9.4M (95% CI) (7.7M, 11.2M) live with PD in 2020.  Country-specific numbers include: US 930K (794K, 1.1M); Japan 344K (278K, 425K); Germany 266K (209K ,318K); France  157K(127K ,192K); Italy 149K(125K, 181K); UK 142K (117K, 174K); Spain 120K (97K, 150K).  [Image 1]

Conclusion: The estimated 9.4M PD global population in 2020 is higher than the previously reported 6M PD cases in 2016. The rise in PD prevalence estimates calls attention to the increasing individual and societal burden and the pressing need for measures to address and impact this challenging disease.

References: 1. Dorsey ER, Elbaz A, Nichols E et al. Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2016 Parkinson’s Disease Collaborators. Global, regional, and national burden of Parkinson’s disease, 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Lancet Neurol 2018; 17: 939–53. Online data available: http://www.healthdata.org/gbd/gbd-2017-resources, last accessed 07 Feb 2020. 2. Marras C, Beck JC, Bower JH et al. on behalf of the Parkinson’s Foundation P4 Group. Prevalence of Parkinson’s disease across North America. npjParkinson’s Disease 2018;4(21).

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