Parkinson's disease and hospital admissions: frequencies, diagnoses and costs

Objective - To evaluate the frequencies, causes and costs related to hospital admissions for patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and controls. Methods - In a prospective cohort study, 108 patients with PD from a population-based prevalence study and 854 age- and sex-matched controls were followed regarding admissions to the Stavanger University Hospital over a period of 12 years. Results - There was no significant difference regarding the number of patients admitted, number of admissions or length of stay between the two cohorts. Based on 2005 prices, the costs per person year of survival were EUR 3288 for patients with PD and EUR 2466 for control individual with incremental costs of EUR 822. However, the difference in costs was not statistically significant. The two cohorts had a different distribution of diagnoses causing hospital admissions. Patients with PD were more often admitted for PD-related symptoms and falls, while vascular disorders and cancer were substantially more common in control individuals. Conclusion - Hospitalization in PD does not induce incremental costs. The diagnoses causing hospital admissions were different in patients with PD as compared with controls. Our results indicate that cancer and vascular diseases might be less common in patients with PD than in the general population.