Chinese culture permeation in the treatment of Parkinson disease: a cross-sectional study in four regions of China.

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BackgroundLittle is known about the clinical features and treatment of Chinese patients with Parkinson disease (PD).MethodsA large cross-sectional survey of clinical features, medication use, and motor complications was conducted in 901 consecutive PD patients, from 42 randomly selected university-affiliated hospitals in four urban economic regions of China, between December 2006 and May 2007.ResultsThe 901 PD patients had age range 30 to 88, and median disease duration 50 months. Most (737, 81.8%) used L-dopa (median 375 mg/day), and often added low doses of other antiparkinsonian agents. Among L-dopa-treated patients, the prevalence of motor complications was low (dyskinesias: 8.5%; motor fluctuations: 18.6%), even among patients with disease duration ≥11 years (dyskinesias: 18.1%; motor fluctuations: 42.2%). Higher L-dopa use was associated with higher occurrence of dyskinesias (OR 2.44; 95% CI 1.20-5.13) and motor fluctuations (OR 2.48; 95% CI 1.49-4.14). Initiating PD treatment with L-dopa alone (OR 0.46; 95% CI 0.22-0.95) or in combination with other medications (OR 0.41; 95% CI 0.19-0.87) was associated with less dyskinesia than treatment initiated with non-L-dopa medication.ConclusionsMany Chinese PD patients are treated with low-dose L-dopa and added low-dose antiparkinsonian agents, with a low prevalence of motor complications, which might be influenced by Chinese culture.

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