Abstract

The effect of rehabilitation on the development of dementia in Parkinsons disease

Author(s): Chang-Chen Wu, Ching-Ju Chiu, Jen D Wong, Shang-Te Wu, Ta-Shen Kuan

Objective:

This study investigate the influence of rehabilitation on prevent dementia in Parkinson’s disease patients.

Methods:

This was a retrospective cohort study analyzing data from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan between January 1, 1997, and December 31, 2007. Patients with newly onset Parkinson’s disease initially receiving any anti-parkinsonism drug were followed up to evaluate the effect of rehabilitation on Parkinson disease dementia. Cox proportional hazard models were employed to evaluate the relationship between cumulative times of rehabilitation and the incidence of subsequent dementia in adult with Parkinson’s disease, adjusting for age, sex, cerebral vascular accident, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, mood disorders, drug use and comorbidity.

Results:

Each rehabilitation program is able to significantly decrease the incidence of dementia 0.8% in Parkinson’s disease patients (p<0.0001). Other risk factors of dementia in Parkinson’s disease include age, hypertension, stroke, mood disorder and diabetes.

Conclusion:

Rehabilitation may be able to prevent the subsequent dementia in Parkinson’s disease patients. And the effect of rehabilitation in dementia prevention among Parkinson’s disease patients is dose-dependent.