Pharmacotherapy of Parkinson's disease in Germany.

Treatment standards or guidelines have been developed for most features of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, data on the actual treatment that is put into practice are scarce. In 2000, a nationwide survey on the topic of sudden onset of sleep (SOS) in PD was initiated among the members of the German patient support group (deutsche Parkinson-Vereinigung, dPV). A part of this mailed questionnaire survey covering the antiparkinsonian and concomitant medication of the participants is presented here. This study analyses data sets from more than 6,500 PD patients. The mean dopaminergic dose was equivalent to 599 +/- 387 mg levodopa/die. The most frequently administered drugs were levodopa (94.2 %), dopamine agonists (DA) (71.7 %), amantadine (40.1 %), selegiline (27.6 %), entacapone (20.4 %), budipine (12.3 %), and anticholinergics (11.8 %). Costs of pharmacotherapy were estimated to be approximately 399 million/year in Germany. PD drug therapy in general strongly depended on age, disease duration, and the level of care. The treatment guidelines were apparently not consistently followed underlining the need for their continuous propagation throughout the medical community. In addition our data suggest that non-motor symptoms in PD are not adequately treated and that concomitant sedative medication contributes to the occurrence of SOS.