Objective: To investigate the prevalence of Parkinson disease and myasthenia gravis co-occurrence among hospitalized patients in the United States.
Background: Parkinson disease (PD), a largely idiopathic neurodegenerative disease of dopaminergic neurons, and myasthenia gravis (MG), an autoimmune disease of the neuromuscular junction, are distinct in both presentation and pathophysiology. Nevertheless, several case studies have identified an unexpected rate of PD and MG co-occurrence internationally. The literature has yet to quantify this relationship, if one exists, on a large scale in the United States.
Method: The National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database, the largest publicly available, all-payer inpatient care database, was used to identify hospitalized patients with a history of PD and MG in 2021. Demographic and clinicopathologic variables were collected. Chi-squared analysis was performed to assess whether the observed MG and PD co-occurrence deviated from expected values under the assumption of independence. Binomial logistic regression was used to evaluate the association while adjusting for confounders, including age and sex. Odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were reported. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.
Results: Out of 33,333,720 patients, 43,260 and 329,020 had a history of MG and PD respectively. The chi-squared test indicated that MG and PD co-occurred significantly more than expected (χ² = 454.64, df = 1, p < 0.001). The observed frequency of MG-PD co-occurrence was 880, compared to an expected 436.8 cases. Logistic regression confirmed that PD (OR = 1.11, 95% CI: 1.04–1.12, p = 0.002), age (OR = 1.033, p < 0.001), and sex (OR = 0.865, p < 0.001) were significant predictors of MG.
Conclusion: This study reveals a significant association between PD and MG in hospitalized patients in the United States, suggesting that the co-occurrence of these conditions is higher than expected by chance. Further research is needed to elucidate possible underlying mechanisms linking these two distinct pathologies.
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https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35917141/
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To cite this abstract in AMA style:
S. Abdul-Ghani, J. Miles. Co-occurrence of Parkinson Disease and Myasthenia Gravis in Hospitalized Patients: A Nationwide Analysis [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2025; 40 (suppl 1). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/co-occurrence-of-parkinson-disease-and-myasthenia-gravis-in-hospitalized-patients-a-nationwide-analysis/. Accessed October 5, 2025.« Back to 2025 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/co-occurrence-of-parkinson-disease-and-myasthenia-gravis-in-hospitalized-patients-a-nationwide-analysis/