Date of Award

2017

Degree Name

Master of Medicine / Surgery (Thesis)

First Supervisor

Associate Professor Stephen Tisch

Second Supervisor

Associate Professor Louise Rushwort

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive and disabling neurological disorder that affects approximately 1% of the adult population aged over 65 years in Australia. Parkinson’s disease, as with many other chronic illnesses, results in frequent patient hospitalisations. There is a paucity of information on the causes and related co-morbidities that lead to hospitalisation among these patients in an Australian setting. The aim of this study was to examine patterns of hospitalisation of Parkinson’s disease patients with regards to demographic factors, co-morbidities and aspects relating to clinical management. In this study, data was extracted from the NSW Ministry of Health’s Admitted Patient Data Collection (APDC), to examine patterns of the patient admission over a five-year period. A comparison group (patients without Parkinson’s disease) was used to strengthen the study and to compare the epidemiological, demographic and clinical features if the Parkinson’s disease patients with those of patients without Parkinson’s disease. Statistical analysis of patterns of disease that may predispose Parkinson’s disease patients to hospitalisation was undertaken. The results of this retrospective study were used to inform patient groups and health care providers about the possibilities for improved health outcomes for patients and their carers and were published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry in 2014.

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