The role of training intensity in outpatient rehabilitation of people with Parkinson's disease: A retrospective cohort study of disability progression with 4-month follow-up

ObjectivesMany researchers have expected pioglitazone to serve as an effective neuroprotective agent against Parkinson’s disease (PD). Therefore, we conducted this cohort study to investigate the association between pioglitazone use and PD by using a large Asian population-based dataset in Taiwan.DesignRetrospective cohort study.SettingTaiwan.Participants7906 patients with diabetes who had received pioglitazone were defined as the study cohort, and 7906 matched patients with diabetes who had not received pioglitazone were defined as the comparison cohort.Primary and secondary outcome measuresWe tracked each patient individually over a 5-year follow-up period to identify those diagnosed as having PD during this period. We performed Cox proportional hazard regression analyses to evaluate the HRs for PD between the study and comparison cohorts.ResultsThe findings indicated that among the sampled patients, PD occurred in 257 (1.63%): 119 (1.51%) pioglitazone users and 138 (1.75%) non-users. The adjusted HR for PD within the follow-up period was 0.90 (95% CI: 0.68 to 1.18) in the patients who had received pioglitazone compared with the matched patients who had not received pioglitazone. Moreover, this study revealed that pioglitazone use was not associated with PD incidence in men (HR: 1.06, 95% CI: 0.71 to 1.59) or women (HR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.61 to 1.15).ConclusionsThis study did not find the relationship between pioglitazone use and PD incidence, regardless of sex, among an Asian population of patients with diabetes.

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Mortality from Parkinson’s disease and other causes among a workforce manufacturing paraquat: an updated retrospective cohort study

Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology ◽

10.1186/s12995-021-00309-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

Author(s):

John Andrew Tomenson ◽

Clive Campbell

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Cohort Study ◽

Retrospective Cohort Study ◽

Retrospective Cohort ◽

Causes Of Death ◽

Death Certificates ◽

Female Workers ◽

Increased Risk

Abstract Background Epidemiological studies of the association between Parkinson’s disease (PD) and paraquat (PQ) exposure have given inconsistent findings. The aim of the study was to update information on the risk of PD and mortality from major causes of death among a UK workforce who manufactured PQ by extending the follow-up by seven and a half years. Methods This retrospective cohort study included all employees who had ever worked on any of the four plants at Widnes, UK where PQ was manufactured between 1961 and 1995. The 926 male and 42 female workers were followed through 31 December 2017. Mortalities for males were compared with national and local rates, including rates for PD as a mentioned cause of death. Results A total of 394 male and 21 female workers had died by end of follow-up. Four death certificates of male workers mentioned PD, including two deaths that were due to PD. At least 6 death certificates of male employees would have been expected to have mentioned PD (SMR = 0.67; 95% CI 0.18–1.72). Reduced mortalities compared with local rates were found for major causes of death. Conclusions The study provided no evidence of an increased risk of PD, or increased mortalities from other causes among PQ production workers whose exposure to PQ on a daily basis was at least comparable to that of a PQ sprayer or mixer/loader.

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