Mortality of People with Parkinson’s Disease in a Large UK-Based Cohort Study: Time Trends and Relationship to Disease Duration

BACKGROUND: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is associated with increased mortality, but little is known about changes over time, and relationship to disease progression. OBJECTIVES: To explore how PD mortality rates have changed over time and their relationship to disease duration and demographics using a large population-based cohort in the UK. METHODS: We included individuals aged 50+ years with a first recording of PD diagnosis and at least two prescriptions of any antiparkinsonian drug actively registered within a general practice from 2006 to 2016 and up to six frequency-matched controls from The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database. We estimated adjusted mortality rates using multivariable Poisson regression. RESULTS: A total of 10,104 people with a diagnosis of PD and 55,664 people without PD were included. Overall, PD was associated with slightly increased mortality compared to non-PD controls (adjusted mortality rate ratio: 1.14; 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.19). Adjusted mortality rates per 1000 person-years at risk for people with PD approximately doubled in the 5 years following diagnosis from 43 (95% CI: 38 to 48) to 75 (95% CI: 64 to 85). Following adjustments for age, gender, and time since diagnosis, mortality rates between 2007 and 2016 declined more slowly for people with PD (2% per year; 95% CI: 0%–4%) compared to people without PD (5% per year; 95% CI: 3%–6%). CONCLUSIONS: Whilst mortality in PD is only slightly increased overall, it gradually increases with advancing disease. There has been a decline in mortality in PD over time, but this decrease was less pronounced than that in the general population.