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Ivan M Suzman wrote: > I heard about a survey in a Boston-area high-rise for the > elderly -- I seem to remember that this was recently -- where about > 1/3 of the 400 or more residents showed Parkinson's symptoms. In a study of a sample of 5020 nursing home residents older than age 55, 6.8% had a primary or secondary diagnosis of PD. The estimated total of people in nursing homes in the U.S. is between 1.5 and 2 million. This data would be useful for our purpose if we knew the proportion of people with PD who are in nursing homes. Below is an abstract from Medline. Is this the one you refer to? Phil Tompkins =================================================================== J Am Geriatr Soc 1996 Apr;44(4):394-399 The epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and natural history of older nursing home residents with a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. Mitchell SL, Kiely DK, Kiel DP, Lipsitz LA Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for Aged, Boston, MA 02131, USA. OBJECTIVE: To determine the epidemiology, clinical characteristics and natural history of nursing home residents with a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease (PD). DESIGN: A cohort study with 18-month follow-up utilizing resident assessments from the National HealthCorp 1991-1992 dataset. SETTING: Seventy-one National HealthCorp nursing homes. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 5020 nursing home residents older than age 55 were studied. Residents with primary and secondary diagnoses of PD were identified from the population using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification code 332.0. MEASUREMENTS: Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics were compared for residents with and those without Parkinson's disease. Outcome measures over the course of 18 months included death and functional status. RESULTS: The prevalence of a diagnosis of PD was 6.8%. Significant factors associated independently with PD included: younger age (79 +/- 7 vs 81 +/- 9 years; P < .001), male sex (32% vs 23%; P < .001), severe dependence in activities of daily living (OR = 1.26; 95% CI 1.08-1.46), impared body control (OR = 1.38; 95% CI 1.03-1.68), symptoms of depression (OR = 1.29; 95% CI 1.02- 1.64), and the number of daily medications (OR = 1.23; 95% CI 1.08-1.44). Residents with a diagnosis of PD had a faster rate of functional decline over 18 months (P < .001) but did not have a higher mortality rate than residents without PD. CONCLUSIONS: Parkinson's disease is a relatively common diagnosis among nursing home residents and is associated with increased functional disability. There are several potentially modifiable conditions associated with PD that may offer an opportunity to design specific interventions and health services to improve the quality of life and slow functional decline in this frail population. PMID: 8636583, UI: 96239456