Impact of recommendations on the initial therapy of Parkinson's disease: a population-based study in France.

Levodopa induces long-term motor complications in Parkinson's disease (PD). Therapeutic strategies that prevent motor complications are needed. Our aim was to evaluate the impact of recommendations of a French consensus conference published in 2000 on initial PD therapy. We identified 308 PD patients as part of a population-based study performed within the Mutualité Sociale Agricole in five French districts (2007). Neurologists confirmed PD diagnosis. We compared initial therapy in 102 patients treated before 12/31/2000 to that of 206 patients treated afterwards. Initial treatment was in agreement with the recommendations if dopamine agonists were used in patients <60 years (n = 49) and levodopa in patients ≥70 years (n = 133). Agreement with the recommendations increased after 2000 (66.0%) compared to before (46.3%, p = 0.025). For patients <60 years, agreement increased (64.0% vs 20.2%, p = 0.017) while it remained stable (66.4% vs 70.6%, p = 0.73) in patients ≥70 years. The publication of recommendations has influenced initial treatment choices for PD in France.

Prediction model of Parkinson's disease based on antiparkinsonian drug claims.

Drug claims databases are increasingly available and provide opportunities to investigate epidemiologic questions. The authors used computerized drug claims databases from a social security system in 5 French districts to predict the probability that a person had Parkinson's disease (PD) based on patterns of antiparkinsonian drug (APD) use. Clinical information for a population-based sample of persons using APDs in 2007 was collected. The authors built a prediction model using demographic variables and APDs as predictors and investigated the additional predictive benefit of including information on dose and regularity of use. Among 1,114 APD users, 320 (29%) had PD and 794 (71%) had another diagnosis as determined by study neurologists. A logistic model including information on cumulative APD dose and regularity of use showed good performance (c statistic = 0.953, sensitivity = 92.5%, specificity = 86.4%). Predicted PD prevalence (among persons aged ≥18 years) was 6.66/1,000; correcting this estimate using sensitivity/specificity led to a similar figure (6.04/1,000). These data demonstrate that drug claims databases can be used to estimate the probability that a person is being treated for PD and that information on APD dose and regularity of use improves models' performances. Similar approaches could be developed for other conditions.

The relation between type of farming and prevalence of Parkinson's disease among agricultural workers in five French districts.

Retrospective assessment of pesticide exposure is complex; however, patterns of pesticide use strongly depend on farming type, which is easier to assess than pesticide exposure. Our aim was to estimate Parkinson's disease (PD) prevalence in five French districts in 2007 among affiliates of Mutualité Sociale Agricole (MSA) and to investigate the relation between PD prevalence and farming type. We identified PD cases from administrative files as persons who used levodopa and/or benefited from free health care for PD. Densities of 16 farming types were defined at the canton of residence level (1988 French agricultural census). We used logistic regression to study the relation between PD prevalence and density of farming types and a semi-Bayes approach to deal with correlated exposures. We identified 1,659 PD cases, yielding an age- and sex-standardized PD prevalence of 3.01/1,000. Prevalence increased with age and was higher in men than women. We found a higher PD prevalence among affiliates living in cantons characterized by a higher density of farms specialized in fruits and permanent crops (multivariable semi-Bayes model: OR(4+5 vs 1+2+3 quintiles) = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.08-1.36; test for trend, P = 0.035). In France, farms specialized in fruits and permanent crops rank first in terms of insecticide use per hectare. Our findings are consistent with studies reporting an association between PD and insecticide use and show that workers in farms specialized in fruits or permanent crops may be an occupational group at higher PD risk.

[Phyt'attitude: network for toxicovigilance in agriculture]. / Phyt'attitude: le réseau de toxicovigilance en agriculture.

Phyt'attitude, a specific observatory on risks associated with the use of pest control products, was created in 1997 by the Mutualité Sociale Agricole (MSA--French social security agency). Its objectives are: to better identify the acute and subacute impact of pest control products so as to develop individual prevention strategies taking into account the actual work; and to improve prevention through providing feedback to public authorities and manufacturers. Professional users can report the disorders they believe to be associated with pest control treatment (headache, difficult breathing, vomiting, skin irritation) by dialing the following French toll-free number: 0 800 887 887 or by contacting the occupational health-safety teams at the MSA. A reporting file completed by the occupational physician and the prevention consultant is forwarded to an expert toxicologist. Accountability is found in 2 out of 3 cases. Several concrete measures were adopted: new product labeling, time limits for re-entering the treated areas, removal of sodium arsenite and change in the formulation. Reports are published periodically. The last one covers the year 2004 and the first semester 2005.