Exposure to toxic occupations and their association with Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review with meta-analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Chambers-Richards ◽  
Yingying Su ◽  
Batholomew Chireh ◽  
Carl D’Arcy

Abstract Objectives Earlier longitudinal reviews on environmental and occupational toxins and Parkinson’s disease (PD) risk have limitations. This study aimed to determine the strength of association between three types of toxic occupational exposures and the occurrence of PD by diagnostic methods. Methods A search was conducted of EMBASE, PubMed/Medline, Toxnet, LILACS, and Cochrane Library databases for longitudinal studies that assessed toxic occupational exposure, Parkinsonian, or related disorders, diagnosed by International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes, medical records, or confirmation by a neurologist/nurse, and published in the English language from January 1990 to July 2021. Pooled risk ratios (RR) estimates were produced using random-effects models. Systematic review with meta-analysis synthesized the results. Study quality, heterogeneity, and publication bias were examined. High-quality articles that met the inclusion criteria were analyzed. Results Twenty-four articles were used in the analyses. The pooled RR for electromagnetic exposure and PD were (RR=1.03, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.91–1.16) while the pooled RR between PD and metal and pesticide exposure were (RR=1.07, 95% CI 0.92–1.24) and (RR=1.41, 95% CI 1.20–1.65), respectively. Pooled RR for methods of diagnosis and their associations with PD were: confirmation by a neurologist or nurse (RR=2.17, 95% CI 1.32–3.54); ICD codes (RR=1.14, 95% CI 1.03–1.26), and medical records (RR=1.06, 95% CI 0.92–1.21). Conclusions Our systematic review provides robust evidence that toxic occupational exposures are significant risk factors for PD especially those diagnosed by neurologists or nurses using standardized methods.

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (11) ◽  
pp. 1355-1367
Author(s):  
Zhenlan Li ◽  
Tian Wang ◽  
Haoyang Liu ◽  
Yan Jiang ◽  
Zhen Wang ◽  
...  

Objective: The aim of the present study was to systematically evaluate and quantify the effectiveness of dual-task training on gait parameters, motor symptoms and balance in individuals diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Data resources: A systematic review of published literature was conducted until May 2020, using PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, EBSCO and CNKI databases. Methods: We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs to evaluate the effects of dual-task training compared with those of non-intervention or other forms of training. The measurements included gait parameters, motor symptoms and balance parameters. Methodological quality was assessed using the PEDro scale. Outcomes were pooled by calculating between-group mean differences using fixed- or random-effects models based on study heterogeneity. Results: A total of 11 RCTs comprising 322 subjects were included in the present meta-analysis. Results showed that dual-task training significantly improved gait speed (standardized mean difference [SMD], −0.23; 95% confidence interval [CI], −0.38 to −0.08; P = 0.002), cadence (SMD, −0.25; 95% CI, −0.48 to −0.02; P = 0.03), motor symptoms (SMD, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.18 to 0.94; P = 0.004) and balance (SMD, −0.44; 95% CI, −0.84 to −0.05; P = 0.03). However, no significant changes were detected in step length or stride length. Conclusion: Dual-task training was effective in improving gait performance, motor symptoms and balance in patients with Parkinson’s disease relative to other forms of training or non-intervention.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaopeng Wen ◽  
Kunbin Li ◽  
Hao Wen ◽  
Qian Wang ◽  
Zhiyuan Wu ◽  
...  

Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the effects of the combination of acupuncture-related therapies with conventional medication compared with conventional medication in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD).Methods: A literature search within eight databases [including Medline, Embase, the Cochrane Library, PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Biology Medicine (CBM), VIP, and Wanfang Database] was performed covering a time frame from their inception to August 2020. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing acupuncture-related therapies combined with conventional medication vs. conventional medication in patients with PD were eligible. Two authors independently assessed the risk of bias. Assessments were performed with the total and subscales scores of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), 39-item Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39), the dosage of Madopar, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and 17-item Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD). Data were analyzed by adopting the Cochrane Collaboration's RevMan 5.4 (Review Man, Copenhagen, Denmark); and mean effect sizes and 95% confidence intervals were estimated. Tests for heterogeneity were used to assess differences in treatment effects across different types of acupuncture used.Results: Sixty-six trials met the inclusion criteria, of which 61 trials provided data for the meta-analysis. We defined high-quality articles as those with a low risk of bias in four or more domains; and only 10 (15.15%) articles were of high quality. Compared with the controls, acupuncture-related therapies with conventional medication achieved a benefit in the primary outcomes of UPDRS (motor subscore: −3.90, −4.33 to −3.49, P < 0.01; total score: −7.37 points, −8.91 to −5.82, P < 0.001; activities of daily living subscore: −3.96, −4.96 to −2.95, P < 0.01). For the subgroup difference test among the effects of different acupuncture methods, significant differences existed in outcomes with the UPDRS-III, UPDRS-I, UPDRS-IV, and PDQ-39 scores and Madopar dosage, while non-significant differences existed with the UPDRS-total, UPDRS-II, HAMD, and MMSE scores.Conclusions: Acupuncture-related therapies combined with conventional medication may benefit individuals with PD. Our review findings should be considered with caution because of the methodological weaknesses in the included trials. Future, large randomized trials of acupuncture-related therapies for PD with high methodological quality are warranted.Systematic Review Registration: Identifier CRD42021228110.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
XinYue Zhang ◽  
Zhen Svn ◽  
MengSi Liv ◽  
Yan Yang ◽  
Rui Zeng ◽  
...  

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are respectively one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases and functional bowel diseases in the world. Recent studies suggest that patients with IBS seem to have a higher risk of PD, which conflicts with the result of previous meta-analysis. Therefore, the purpose of this systematic review is to evaluate all available evidence, in order to clarify the association between PD and IBS.Methods: Two reviewers independently searched the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane library on April 25, 2021 to identify all records that explore the association between IBS and PD. All reports that clearly define PD and IBS and analyze the relationship between the two were included. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used to assess the risk of bias of included studies.Results: Five studies from four articles involving 2,044,110 subjects were included in this analysis. The pooled results demonstrated a significant association between PD and IBS (1.48; 95% CI: 1.35–1.62, P < 0.001), with subtle heterogeneity (I2 = 0.0%, p = 0.585). The association was observed across genders and increased with age. However, the available evidence cannot allow a reliable analysis of the causal relationship between IBS and PD.Conclusion: This study demonstrates a higher risk of PD among subjects with IBS. Future studies are required to further clarify the causation and underlying mechanism of the association.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiang Liu ◽  
Huiyu Liu ◽  
Zicai Liu ◽  
Jinzhu Rao ◽  
Jing Wang ◽  
...  

Background: Parkinson's disease is a common neurodegenerative disorder with motor and non-motor symptoms. Recently, as adjuvant therapy, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been shown to improve the motor and non-motor function of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). This systematic review aimed to evaluate the existing evidence for the efficacy of tDCS for PD. We included English databases (PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Science) and Chinese databases [Wanfang database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP), and China Biology Medicine (CBM)] without restricting the year of publication. Twenty-one tDCS studies, with a total of 736 participants, were included in the analysis. Two independent researchers extracted the data and characteristics of each study. There was a significant pooled effect size (−1.29; 95% CI = −1.60, −0.98; p < 0.00001; I2 = 0%) in the Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS) I and the Montreal cognitive assessment (SMD = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.50 to 1.24; p < 0.00001; I2 = 0%). The poor effect size was observed in the UPDRS III scores (SMD = −0.13; 95% CI = −0.64, 0.38; p = 0.61; I2 = 77%), and similar results were observed for the timed up and go (TUG) test, Berg balance scale, and gait assessment. The results of this meta-analysis showed that there was insufficient evidence that tDCS improves the motor function of patients with PD. However, tDCS seemed to improve their cognitive performance. Further multicenter research with a larger sample size is needed. In addition, future research should focus on determining the tDCS parameters that are most beneficial to the functional recovery of patients with PD.


Respiration ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Laura López-López ◽  
Janet Remedios Rodríguez-Torres ◽  
Lawrence Patrick Cahalin ◽  
Irene Cabrera-Martos ◽  
Irene Torres Sánchez ◽  
...  

<b><i>Background:</i></b> The peripheral and central repercussions of Parkinson’s disease (PD) affect the neuromuscular system producing a loss of muscle strength that can influence the respiratory system. Although several studies have examined various respiratory aspects of PD, to the best of our knowledge no study to date has systematically reviewed the existing data. <b><i>Objectives:</i></b> To examine the available literature related to the respiratory impairment in PD patients. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> We used PRISMA guidelines when reporting this review. We searched Pubmed, Cinhal, SciELO, and Cochrane Library, from inception until August 2018. Main variables assessed were forced vital capacity percent predicted (FVC%) and forced expiratory volume in 1 s percent predicted (FEV<sub>1</sub>%) for PD patients. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Six studies were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The obtained results concluded that PD patients present poorer pulmonary function when compared to healthy controls. When PD patients were compared between ON and OFF states, the results reviewed are in favour of the ON state. In the meta-analysis performed for FVC% and FEV<sub>1</sub>%, the results fail to find significant differences between PD patients and controls (<i>p</i> = 0.336 and <i>p</i> = 0.281, respectively), and between PD ON and OFF states (<i>p</i> = 0.109 and <i>p</i> = 0.059, respectively). <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> We conclude that PD patients have impaired respiratory capacities that are related to the PD severity, time since diagnosis, and OFF state. Adequate follow-up of the respiratory function and studies focused on PD phenotypes have to be considered in future studies.


Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1003
Author(s):  
Wenjing Wang ◽  
Sharon Sui-lam Wong ◽  
Frank Ho-yin Lai

As a popular method, virtual reality (VR) is still controversial in its effect on the balance function of patients with Parkinson’s disease. This systematic review aims to discuss such effects of VR and to compare it with that resulting from traditional therapies. A comprehensive search was conducted for randomized controlled trials published from 2000 to 2020 through the following databases: PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, Embase, Cochrane Library. Fifteen articles were included for the systematic review. An evaluation on their methodological qualities was performed using the PEDro scale, followed by an assessment of their risk of biases in accordance with the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions for quality assessment. In terms of dynamic balance, the BBS score of the VR group was significantly improved when compared with the control group (SMD = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.31–0.73). However, no significant difference was observed between the two groups on TUG (SMD = −0.26; 95% CI = −0.62–0.1; p = 0.16). Besides, the VR group also showed better results in improving patients’ static balance, balance confidence, and quality of life. A funnel plot was created to investigate the effects of each study included in the meta-analysis in order to identify any existing publication bias. This systematic review shows that the application of VR leads to more significant improvement in the balance of patients with Parkinson’s disease than having them perform traditional exercises. It can be used as an auxiliary method of rehabilitation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (14) ◽  
pp. e457101422262
Author(s):  
Francisco José Silva Ferreira ◽  
Paulo Eduardo Gonçalves ◽  
Alice Santos Lima ◽  
Diogo Costa Garção

There is no consensus in the literature about the influence of levodopa on respiratory disorders, which are the main cause of death in Parkinson’s disease patients. Thus, the aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the influence of levodopa on lung function in patients with Parkinson’s disease. A systematic search was performed in the MEDLINE-PubMed, Lilacs, IEEE Xplore Digital Library and Cochrane Library databases, until July 2020. Eligibility, screening, data extraction and quality assessment of the studies found were conducted independently by a minimum of two reviewers. The meta-analysis was made using RevMan 5, using standardized difference of means (SDM) with the random effects model and 95% confidence interval. The presence of heterogeneity was evaluated through the percentage of i². In total, 78 studies were identified; of these,7 were included in the review and meta-analysis after considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria. By comparing the 'on' and 'off' levodopa states, in the outcomes of interest found in the included studies, the following results were obtained in the meta-analysis: FVC (SMD of 0.12, p = 0.41); FEV1 (SMD of 0.10, p = 0.47); PEF (SMD of -0.00, p = 0.99); FEV1/FVC (SMD 0.04, p = 0.76). The conducted study suggested that there was no influence of levodopa treatment on any of the pulmonary variables assessed in patients with Parkinson’s disease.    


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Reyhanifard ◽  
Sarvin Sanaie ◽  
Mojgan Mirghafurvand ◽  
Sama Rahnemayan ◽  
Arezoo Fathalizadeh ◽  
...  

Objectives: This systematic review of the literature was carried out to see whether coffee consumption could affect Parkinson’s disease (PD) symptoms. Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs), crossover studies, and quasi-experimental studies were assessed to evaluate the effect of caffeine on PD. The databases including Medline/PubMed, ProQuest, Embase, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov were systematically searched. The Cochrane Collaboration’s tool for assessing the risk of bias in randomized clinical trials and the Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool for non-randomized studies of interventions (ROBINS-I) were used to assess the quality of RCTs and non-randomized clinical trials, respectively. A meta-analysis of the results was not possible because of reporting different outcomes. Results: Four papers were included in this study. Only one study reported the significant effect of caffeine on ESS and UPDRS. Another study observed no significant effect of caffeine on ESS during three- and six-week interventions. However, a significant reduction in ESS scores in the sixth week was reported after excluding four protocol violations. This study reported that the UPDRS score reduced in the third week, but significant changes were observed after six weeks. The other two studies did not show a significant effect of caffeine on ESS and UPDRS. Conclusions: Since a meta-analysis was not conducted, there was insufficient evidence to evaluate the effect of caffeine on PD. Thus, it is recommended to conduct more well-designed RCTs with a larger sample size to assess the effect of caffeine on PD.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. e047934
Author(s):  
Fabin Lin ◽  
Yanhong Weng ◽  
Xiaofeng Lin ◽  
Dihang Wu ◽  
Yixiao Su ◽  
...  

IntroductionSleep disorders are the main non-motor characteristics of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The quality of life is significantly impacted by rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (RBD). It is not clearly evidenced in the literature that some medications can reduce the dream activities of patients with PD and RBD and improve sleep quality. And, they have side effects that may increase the severity of this disease. To further understand which medication has better efficacy and fewer adverse effects for patients with PD and RBD, it is necessary to perform a network meta-analysis.Methods and analysisThis protocol is performed accordingly to the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols and the Cochrane Collaboration Handbook.A thorough literature selection will be conducted up to September 2021 using PubMed, Cochrane Library (The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews) and Embase. We will not only include randomised controlled trials, but prospective, retrospective cohort, case–control, nested case–control, case–cohort, cross-sectional and case series. We will use the Cochrane Collaboration tool to assess the risk of bias. Pairwise and network meta-analyses will be conducted using the R netmeta package and Stata V.14.0. The relative ranking probability of the best intervention will be estimated using the surface under the cumulative ranking curve. Additionally, sensitivity analysis, subgroup analysis, quality assessment and publication bias analysis will be performed.Ethics and disseminationNo research ethics approval is required for this systematic review, as no confidential patient data will be used. We will disseminate our findings through publication in a peer-reviewed journal and conference presentations, and our review will support development of a BMJ Rapid Recommendations providing contextualised clinical guidance based on this body of evidence.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42020206958.


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