Objective: To assess the demographic profile and other health characteristics of women with primary parkinsonism who present to the Texas Medical Center for care.

Background: Women with primary parkinsonism remain underrepresented in research, despite evidence of sex-based differences in incidence, presentation, treatment response, and survival[1–7]. Due to their underrepresentation in research, the demographic characteristics of women with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and atypical parkinsonism, including Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB), Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), and Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD), are not as well characterized.

Method: This retrospective study collected demographic data from 2007 to 2023 on women aged 45 and older diagnosed with typical and atypical parkinsonism, as identified by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 codes: G20 (PD), G90.3 (MSA), G31.83 (DLB), G23.1 (PSP), and G31.85 (CBD). Data were extracted from the UT Physicians Electronic Medical Record. Cases were randomized using random number generation. A movement disorder-trained neurologist performed a manual chart review to confirm the diagnosis of PD or atypical parkinsonism. Patients with secondary parkinsonism or concurrent neurodegenerative disorders were excluded. Demographic and women’s health data were collected through manual chart review. Data were analyzed using Jamovi2.3.28.0.

Results: Of the 709 women identified, 350 (49.4%) had confirmed primary parkinsonism without another documented neurodegenerative disorder. PD was the most common diagnosis (82%), followed by DLB (12.9%), MSA (9%), CBD (5%), and PSP (4%). The cohort was racially and ethnically diverse. Among women with PD, 57.7% identified as White, 20.9% as Other, 8.7% as Black, and 8.4% as Asian. In terms of ethnicity, 64.7% identified as not Hispanic or Latina. Demographic and women’s health data are summarized in the Table 1. These preliminary findings are part of an ongoing case-control study assessing the role of Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators in primary parkinsonism.

Conclusion: By using an all-woman cohort with all primary parkinsonism diagnoses, within a large and diverse medical center, and by manual chart review, our findings contribute to the understanding of prevalence of the primary parkinsonisms.  Future completion of the data set may contribute to risk factor identification in women with primary parkinsonism.

Table 1

References: [1] J. Zhou, J. Zhang, Y. Li, L. Du, Z. Li, F. Lei, Y.K. Wing, C.A. Kushida, D. Zhou, X. Tang, Gender differences in REM sleep behavior disorder: A clinical and polysomnographic study in China, Sleep Med 16 (2015) 414–418. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2014.10.020.
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