Epidemiology of Parkinson's Disease in the Southern Ukraine

Background: Parkinson's disease is a slowly progressing neurodegenerative disease with accumulation of alpha synuclein and the formation of Levy's intraneuronal bodies. The prevalence of PD ranges from 100 to 200 cases per 100,000 population, however, in reality in Ukraine, many cases of the disease remain undiagnosed, which affects the statistical indicators of disease burden.

Aim of the Study: Comparison of PD epidemiological indices in the Southern Ukraine versus all-Ukrainian rates.

Materials and Methods: Analysis of static data of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, health departments of Odessa, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions for 2015-2017. There were used the methods of descriptive statistics and analysis of variance.

Results: Average prevalence of PD in the Ukraine is 67.5 per 100,000 population – it’s close to the Eastern Europe rate. The highest prevalence was registered in Lviv (142.5 per 100000), Vinnytsia (135.9 per 100000), Cherkasy (108.6 per 100,000) and Kyiv (107.1 per 100,000) regions. The lowest prevalence rates were in the Luhansk (37.9 per 100,000), Kropivnitsky (42.5 per 100,000), Chernivtsi (49.0 per 100,000) and Ternopil (49,6 per 100,000) regions. In the Southern Ukraine the highest prevalence of PD was found in the Mykolayv region. The prevalence was higher in the urban area and in the districts located closely to the regional capital city. Based on the total population and demographic properties in Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions, it can be concluded that at least 40-50% of patients with PD are left outside the sphere of medical care, and in some areas of these regions this index is 80-90%.

Conclusion: To optimize the diagnostic process and standardize epidemiological data, it is necessary to intensify the work of centers of extrapyramidal diseases in all regions of Ukraine, including intra-center and inter-center information databases to obtain adequate and pertinent statistical data.