Large UK primary-care cohort (2007–2021) found declining age-standardized PD incidence but rising PD prevalence, increased vascular parkinsonism diagnoses since 2010, and stable drug-induced parkinsonism, with rates rising with age and generally higher in males.

While it offers little mechanistic or biomarker insight for therapy discovery, the paper is useful for therapeutic planning and trial design by clarifying evolving disease burden, subtype shifts (notably vascular parkinsonism), and demographic patterns that affect recruitment and resource…

To evaluate secular trends of incidence and prevalence of Parkinson's Disease (PD), Vascular Parkinsonism (VP), and Drug-induced Parkinsonism from 2007 to 2021 in the UK. We used primary care data, Clinical Practice Research Datalink GOLD, from the UK. Individuals were included if they were registered from January 2007 to December 2021 with at least one year of prior observation. Age-standardized and crude incidence and prevalence were calculated annually; age-standardized rates were stratified by sex, and crude rates by age and sex. From 2007 to 2019, the age-standardized incidence of PD decreased from 35.61 (95% confidence interval: 33.97-37.30) to 31.27 (29.27-33.37) per 100 000 person-years. The prevalence of PD increased from 0.21% (0.21%-0.22%) in 2007, peaking in 2016 at 0.23% (0.23%-0.24%). The number of VP diagnoses has increased since 2010, whereas the incidence and prevalence of DIP remained stable. Incidence and prevalence increased with age and were generally higher in males, except for DIP, which was slightly higher in females. Crude rates showed similar trends. Though Parkinson Disease incidence has declined, prevalence has risen, suggesting improved survival. VP rates have increased, possibly due to improvements in diagnostic screening. Drug-induced Parkinsonism rates remained stable. With an aging UK population, Parkinsonism subtypes pose a growing burden.