Pattern and treatment of Parkinson’s disease at different health care levels in Bangladesh: a hospital based survey

Abstract

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a condition in which part of the brain becomes progressively damaged over many years. This study represents the pattern of Parkinson’s disease and help to identify various drugs which are being used at different health care levels in Bangladesh.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> Cross-sectional technique was applied as study design in this research work. We accessed the patients with formulated questionnaire of the Department of Neuroscience of National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital, Dhaka Medical College and Hospital and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) for data collection from January 2017 to August 2019. 100 patients were selected in the ages between 25-80 years, among them 66 were male and 34 females. </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> A total number of 100 Parkinson’s disease patients (male 66%, female 34%) were recruited for this study. Genetic factor (56%) is the main cause of PD found in this study. Among various symptoms, the prominent symptoms were voice disorders (96%), slowness of movement (90%), mask-like face expression (86%), tremor (80%), sensory and sleep difficulties (78%), excessive sweating (60%) and insomnia (56%). It was observed that along with physiotherapy, drugs used to manage PD were levodopa (14%), carbamazepine (12%), quetiapine (12%), haloperidol (11%), pramipexole (10%), trihexyphenidyl HCl (10%), carbidopa (8%), amlodipine (8%) and clonazepam (8%).</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Disgrace exists in the personal life and social context of the PD patients which also unfavourably affects their psychosocial aspects of life. Our population-based data provide evidence for a protective effect of Parkinson’s disease in our country.</p>