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J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2009;80:1271-1274 doi:10.1136/jnnp.2008.149849
  • Short report

Risk factors for progressive supranuclear palsy: a case-control study in France

  1. J-S Vidal1,2,3,
  2. M Vidailhet4,5,
  3. P Derkinderen6,
  4. T Dubard de Gaillarbois7,
  5. C Tzourio1,2,
  6. A Alpérovitch1,2
  1. 1
    Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM-U708), Paris
  2. 2
    Université Pierre Marie Curie Paris 6, Paris, France
  3. 3
    Department of Neurology, Hôpital Saint-Antoine, Paris, France
  4. 4
    INSERM U679, Neurology and Experimental Therapeutics, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France
  5. 5
    Federation of Neurology, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France, Université Pierre Marie Curie Paris 6, Paris, France
  6. 6
    Department of Neurology and Center of Clinical Investigations, Hôpital Laënnec, Nantes, France
  7. 7
    Clinique Saint-André, Reims, France
  1. Correspondence to Dr J-S Vidal, INSERM Unit 708, Hôpital de La Salpêtrière, 75651 Paris Cedex 13, France; vidal{at}chups.jussieu.fr
  • Received 18 March 2008
  • Revised 27 October 2008
  • Accepted 26 November 2008

Abstract

Background: The risk factors of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare but severe Parkinsonian syndrome, are poorly known.

Objective: To study the risk factors of PSP in a case control study among French patients.

Method: The study was conducted between April 2000 and December 2003. Cases were in- or outpatients of five large hospitals and fulfilled the Golbe criteria. Controls were relatives of patients from the same hospitals, free of Parkinsonian syndrome and dementia, and matched to cases for age, gender and living area. Data on demographic characteristics, occupation history, diet habits, anti-inflammatory drugs use, alcohol consumption, smoking habits, gardening and leisure activities, and exposure to pesticides were collected through a face-to-face questionnaire. A conditional logistic regression was used to analyse matched data and estimate OR.

Results: 79 cases and 79 controls were included. Only a few comparisons were significant. Cases reached a lower education attainment than controls (odds ratio (OR) = 2.6 (1.3 to 5.3), p = 0.01). Analysis of diet habits did not show any major difference although cases ate meat or poultry more frequently. Conversely, controls ate fruits more frequently than did cases. No association was found between PSP and occupation, use of pesticides, gardening, alcohol consumption, smoking habits and anti-inflammatory agent use.

Conclusion: In this case-control study, we did not find any strong environmental risk factors for PSP.

Footnotes

  • Competing interests None.

  • Ethics approval Ethics approval was provided by the local ethic committee of the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital, Paris, France.

  • Provenance and Peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

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