Frequency of orthostatic hypotension in a community based cohort of patients with Parkinson’s disease
- Department of Neurology, Sunderland Royal Hospital and Institute for Ageing and Health, University of Newcastle, UK
- Correspondence to: Dr L M Allcock Parkinson’s Disease Research Unit, Department of Neurology, Sunderland Royal Hospital, Sunderland, UK; l.m.allcockncl.ac.uk
- Received 30 September 2003
- Accepted 13 January 2004
- Revised 12 January 2004
Abstract
The frequency of orthostatic hypotension (OH) in cohorts of patients recruited through hospital Parkinson’s disease (PD) clinics ranges from 16% to 58%. However, hospital based cohorts may be subject to ascertainment bias. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of OH in a community based population of PD patients and to determine the demographic features of patients with and without OH.
Forty two (47%) of patients met the criteria for OH. Subjects with OH were older than those without OH, but there was no difference in PD disease duration or severity, MMSE or depression rating between the groups.
Footnotes
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LMA has an NHS Research and Development Training Fellowship.
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KU is funded by the PPP Foundation.
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Competing interests: none declared
