The social impact of Parkinson's disease in Spain: Report by the Spanish Foundation for the Brain

Introduction: Understanding the social and economic impact of Parkinson's disease is essential for resource planning and raising social awareness.

Development: Researchers reviewed the data published to date on epidemiology, morbidity and mortality, dependency, and economic impact of Parkinson's disease in Spain. In addition, a study has been carried out in order to define the public and private health care resources of Spanish patients affected by Parkinson's disease by means of an e-mail survey of all neurologists specialising in this disease and belonging to the Spanish Society of Neurology's study group for movement disorders.

Conclusions: The incidence and prevalence rates of Parkinson's disease in Spain are similar to those in the rest of Europe. According to current population estimates, there are at least 300.000 patients with Parkinson's disease and one new case per 10.000 habitants per year in Spain. This has a major impact on the patient's quality of life and nearly doubles patient mortality. In addition, the disease generates sizeable costs for the country that may exceed 17.000€ per year per patient; costs will rise due to the ageing of the population and the new therapies employed. Healthcare professionals and administrators dedicate their efforts to providing quality care to patients. Despite the above, we still have a long way to go in order to provide quality, efficient, multidisciplinary, and universal healthcare.