378 EPIDEMIOLOGY
disease occurrence between the two sexes. Most when exam-
ining these data would suggest that even though the differ-
ence is not signifi cant, an important difference between men
and women appears to exist for the onset of disease, with
men’s being much earlier. This would indicate, for example,
that screening for this disease be initiated at an earlier time
period for men.
Table 2, by Mayeux et al. (1995), also indicates a dif-
ference of disease onset by age. There is a dramatic preva-
lence rate (total) for populations under 45 (1.3 per 100,000)
as compared to those over (e.g., 99.3 per 100,000 for the agegroup 45–64 years). The prevalence also overall increases
with age. There are also differences in prevalence among
ethnic groups and sex within these groups. This demonstrates
the importance of studies examining race and sex as impor-
tant factors in disease (Ness et al., 2004; Lange et al., 2003b).
This study (Mayeux et al., 1995) examined the age-adjusted
prevalence rate for combined men and women by ethnic
group (race), and a signifi cant difference ( p value 0.01) was
observed among blacks (57 per 100,000), whites (116 per
100,000), and Hispanics (130 per 100,000). This indicates
that there is not only a difference in the onset of Parkinson’sTABLE 2
Prevalence of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease in a New York neighborhood based on a community diseases registry, 1988–1989Ethnic group and sex Age group (years) Total 45 45–64 65–74 75–84 85 Crude Age-adjusted
Black men
No. 0 1 7 6 1 15 —
Population 19,395 4,265 1,216 530 150 25,556 —
Prevalence rate 0 23.4 575.7 666.7 58.7 92.0
(29.0–88.4)‡92.0
(54.7–129.0)
White men
No. 0 1 7 8 3 19 —
Population 20,285 6,020 2,296 1,305 443 30,349 —
Prevalence rate 0 16.6 304.9 613.0 667.0 62.6
(34.5–90.7)54.7
(28.4–81.0)
White women
No. 1 14 12 34 12 73 —
Population 26,447 7,036 2,446 1,710 636 38,275 —
Prevalence rate 3.8 199.0 490.6 1,074.7 1,886.8 167.3
(147.0–234.0)86.0
(131.0–114.0)
Hispanic men
No. 0 1 7 6 1 15 —
Population 19,395 4,265 1,216 530 150 25,556 —
Prevalence rate 0 23.4 575.7 666.7 58.7 92.0
(29.0–88.4)92.0
(54.7–129.0)
Hispanic women
No. 0 1 7 6 1 15 —
Population 19,395 4,265 1,216 530 150 25,556 —
Prevalence rate 0 23.4 575.7 666.7 58.7 92.0
(29.0–88.4)92.0
(54.7–129.0)
Total
No. 0 1 7 6 1 15 —
Population 19,395 4,265 1,216 530 150 25,556 —
Prevalence rate 0 23.4 575.7 666.7 58.7 92.0
(29.0–88.4)92.0
(54.7–129.0)
Source: From Mayeux et al. (1995), The frequency of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease by age, ethnic group and sex in northern Manhattan, 1988–1993,
American Journal of Epidemiology, 142:820–27; with permission from Oxford Press.C005_011_r03.indd 378C005_011_r03.indd 378 11/18/2005 10:25:42 AM11/18/2005 10:25:42 AM