Treatment initiation for parkinson’s disease in Australia 2013–2018: a nation-wide study

Abstract

Background: Guidelines highlight the importance of an individualized approach to treatment initiation for Parkinson’s disease. Our aim was to investigate initiation of anti-Parkinson medication in Australia from 2013–2018, and to determine factors predicting choice of initial treatment. Methods: Cohort of new-users (N = 4,887) of anti-Parkinson medication aged ≥ 40 years were identified from a 10% random representative sample of national medication dispensing data from July-2013 to June-2018. Changes in treatment initiation were examined across the whole cohort and stratified by age and sex. Results: Treatment initiation was most frequent with levodopa followed by non-ergot dopamine agonists..