[Epidemiology of parkinsonism in the Guadalajara Health Area]

1) To determine the prevalence of Parkinson syndromes in the Guadalajara Health Area and its Basic Health Zones, as well as the typology of the Parkinson's disease; 2) to determine the distribution of antiparkinsonian medication use in the whole Area, and 3) to evaluate the cost per person and per year of this use according to the criteria of sex and age.

A descriptive cross-sectional study including 1,352 subjects affected by parkinsonism in the Guadalajara Area of both sexes and all ages. The variables measured were age, sex, environment, diagnosis, typology of the Parkinson's disease using the Hoehn and Yahr index, treatment, total cost and mean cost of the treatment per person per year. Prevalences were calculated, and the appropriate descriptive statistics were used.

The prevalence of parkinsonism was 585/10(5) inhabitants, being higher in a rural environment (P<.05), in females (P<.01) and in subjects over 90 years (P<.01). The majority suffered from Parkinson's disease (P<.001), of whom 43.4% had symptoms equivalent to Yahr grade II (P<.001). The active ingredient most used was levodopa/carbidopa (51.3%) (P<.001) and the mean drug cost per person was 514.37€.

The prevalence of parkinsonism is similar to that in the rest of the country, although in our study there is a predominance of females and it is in a rural environment. Levodopa is the drug most used, and the mean therapeutic cost per person is similar to the rest of Spain.