Centre for the Business and Economics of Health, The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall St Woolloongabba, Brisbane, Queensland, 4102, Australia.
Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, St Lucia, Australia.
Int J Biometeorol. 2017 Dec;61(12):2205-2211. doi: 10.1007/s00484-017-1427-9. Epub 2017 Aug 30.
The aim of this study is to test what effect the weather may have on medications prescribed to treat Parkinson's disease. Twenty-three years of monthly time, series data was sourced from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM). Data were available for eight states and territories and their corresponding capital cities. The dependent variable was the aggregate levodopa equivalent dose (LED) for 51 Parkinson's medications identified on the PBS. Two explanatory variables of interest, temperature and solar exposure, were identified in the BOM data set. Linear and cosinor models were estimated with fixed and random effects, respectively. The prescribed LED was 4.2% greater in January and 4.5% lower in July. Statistical analysis showed that temperature was associated with the prescription of Parkinson medications. Our results suggest seasonality exists in Parkinson's disease symptoms and this may be related to temperature. Further work is needed to confirm these findings and understand the underlying mechanisms as a better understanding of the causes of any seasonal variation in Parkinson's disease may help clinicians and patients manage the disease more effectively.
本研究旨在测试天气可能对治疗帕金森病的药物处方产生的影响。研究人员从药品福利计划（PBS）和气象局（BOM）获取了 23 年的每月时间序列数据。数据来自八个州和地区及其相应的首府。因变量是 PBS 上确定的 51 种帕金森病药物的总左旋多巴等效剂量（LED）。在 BOM 数据集中共确定了两个感兴趣的解释变量，即温度和太阳辐射。分别使用固定效应和随机效应估计了线性和余弦模型。1 月的处方 LED 增加了 4.2%，7 月的处方 LED 降低了 4.5%。统计分析表明，温度与帕金森病药物的处方有关。我们的研究结果表明，帕金森病症状存在季节性，这可能与温度有关。需要进一步的研究来证实这些发现，并了解潜在的机制，因为更好地了解帕金森病任何季节性变化的原因可能有助于临床医生和患者更有效地治疗该疾病。
