Objective: To determine if the proportion of hospitalized patients with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) in Hawaii differs among Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders (NHPI), American Asians (AA), and Whites.

Background: While there is increasing attention to racial disparities of PD, little is known about the possible profile difference among inpatients with PD in NHPI, AA subgroups (Filipino, Japanese, and Chinese), and Whites. PD is usually managed in an outpatient setting. However, studies have shown that underserved minority groups receive less neurologic outpatient care.¹ Since progressive disability due to PD, in conjunction with other comorbid conditions, is associated with extensive healthcare needs,² racial disparities in PD care could be identified by examining demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with and without PD among racial groups in an inpatient setting.

Method: We conducted a retrospective analysis of hospital discharge data for patients aged 50 years and older using the Hawaiʻi statewide registry (2016-2020). Patients who had at least one hospitalization with a primary and/or a secondary PD diagnosis were categorized as with PD. Patients’ characteristics were summarized using the discharge data from their last visits. Pearson’s Chi-squared tests were used to compare demographic and clinical characteristics among racial groups (White, Japanese, Filipino, Chinese, NHPI, or Other).

Results: We identified 146,844 patients aged 50 years and older (n=429,879 records). Of the patients, 1.6% (n=2401) had a PD diagnosis. The proportion of patients with PD was 2.3% among Japanese, which appeared higher than among NHPI (0.9%). The male group among patients with PD had a higher proportion (59.7%) compared to patients without PD (51.6%, p<0.001), and the male-to-female ratio among patients with PD was similar across the races. As patient’s age increased, the proportion of patients with PD increased, with 80-84 years old for the highest age range (3.4%). However, the proportion at 80-84 years old varied across the races (Whites 3.7%, Filipinos 2.5%, Japanese 4.0%, Chinese 4.3%, NHPI 2.3%).

Conclusion: NHPI and Filipino patients with PD appear to experience disparities compared with White, Japanese, and Chinese patients with PD. Further research is warranted to understand the reason for this observed disparities among racial groups.

References: 1. Saadi A, Himmelstein DU, Woolhandler S, Mejia NI. Racial disparities in neurologic health care access and utilization in the United States. Neurology. 2017;88(24):2268-2275. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000004025

2. Oguh O, Videnovic A. Inpatient Management of Parkinson Disease: Current Challenges and Future Directions. The Neurohospitalist. 2012;2(1):28-35. doi:10.1177/1941874411427734

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/frequency-of-parkinsons-disease-in-all-case-hospitalization-among-native-hawaiian-pacific-islanders-asian-american-subgroups-and-whites/