Session Information
Date: Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Session Title: Epidemiology
Session Time: 1:15pm-2:45pm
Location: Les Muses, Level 3
Objective: To describe the frequency of Parkinson’s disease and parkinsonism in a movement disorder reference center in El Salvador.
Background: El Salvador is a country with approximately 6.6 million inhabitants, the social security system serves 27% of the total population (1.7 million), covering 67% of the adult and 12% of senior citizens; In San Salvador, capital of the country, the movement disorders clinic of the Salvadoran Social Security Institute has been formed for 3 years and is the national reference center for all movement disorders. Currently in the country there are no epidemiological studies on incidence or prevalence of Parkinson’s disease and parkinsonism, so the review of the cases treated in this clinic can serve as an approximation to the national reality.
Method: Retrospective review of the consultation registry of patients seen from January to December 2017 for the first time or follow-up visit with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease or parkinsonism.In all cases the patients have been evaluated by movement disorders specialist neurologists.
Results: From January to December 2017, 807 patients with parkinsonisms were attended. Parkinson´s disease represents 82.4% of all cases. Parkinsonism plus were only diagnosed in 2.6% of the cases. Secondary parkinsonisms represent 3.9% of patients being the most frequent the one of vascular origin (1.6%) followed by those with drug- induced parkinsonism(1%). 75.9% of all patients have an age between 60 to 90 years with the highest frequency (31.35%) between 70 to 80 years.
Conclusion: The distribution of causes of parkinsonisms in El Salvador are similar to those reported in other latitudes. The data obtained are valuable for being an approximation to the epidemiology of parkinsonism in the country, although an important bias of the study is because of being a reference center, the concentration of cases is much higher than expected.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
D. Pereira. Parkinsonism in a movement disorder reference center in El Salvador [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2019; 34 (suppl 2). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/parkinsonism-in-a-movement-disorder-reference-center-in-el-salvador/. Accessed May 17, 2025.« Back to 2019 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/parkinsonism-in-a-movement-disorder-reference-center-in-el-salvador/