We investigated the prevalence of Parkinson's disease (PD) in a South American city: Junín, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. At dwellings systematically selected, the case finding involved household screenings and neurological examinations (i.e., a two-phase survey approach). Only persons 40 years of age or older were eligible (N = 7,765). There were 51 cases of PD identified, yielding a crude prevalence of 656.8 per 100,000 population. The age-specific prevalence was consistently higher in men than women, and it increased with advancing age for both sexes. In addition to prevalence figures. we present tallies related to clinical features of PD, as well as tallies related to other subtypes of parkinsonism.

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Objective: To determine the prevalence of stroke and its distribution by age, sex and clinical type, and to use the outcomes for prevention, care and rehabilitation. Design/Method: The survey was conducted in Junín, a town of about 75,000 inhabitants, situated in an agricultural region of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Systematic sampling was used to select 5,839 dwellings (sampling fraction ∼25%) and 5,648 (97%) households participated in our study, including 17,049 participants. The initial stage of the study involved a case-finding strategy consisting of a two-stage screening approach in the selected households; household screening was followed by neurological examination. We used a point prevalence with reference date January 1, 1991. Stroke was defined according to the WHO criteria. Results: As of January 1, 1991, 148 subjects were identified as cases of stroke (79.6% ischemic and 20.4% hemorrhagic). Point prevalence ratio was 868.1 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the total population (473.4/100,000 age adjusted to the worldwide population) and 1,867.4 in those patients of 40 years of age or older (1,534.4/100,000 age adjusted to the worldwide population). In both sexes, prevalence increased with age. However, this increase was more significant and sustained in men of 50 years of age and older. Moderate to severe disability was observed in 52% of patients. Conclusion: This is one of the first community-based studies conducted in Argentina about the prevalence of stroke. Final results are similar to those reported in other developed countries.

Using unpublished data from five completed prevalence surveys of Parkinson's disease (PD), we investigated case ascertainment uncertainties that potentially have a direct effect on prevalence. These uncertainties arise from the choice of diagnostic criteria, the choice of screening method, and the amount of information lost because of nonresponse. The surveys were conducted in Argentina, India, China, Italy, and the Netherlands. Our analyses consisted of simple comparisons of prevalence results, positive predictive values (a screening measure), and nonresponse percentages. We found that (a) prevalence comparisons between surveys have diminished value if the surveys used different diagnostic criteria for PD; (b) screening performance may be affected adversely if symptom questions are answered by one family member for the entire family living together rather than by each family member individually; and (c) nonresponse from refusal or unavailability does not necessarily lead to bias, but special caution may be appropriate with prevalence results pertaining to elderly women.

The better prognosis was observed in the group with generalized idiopathic epilepsy syndrome. Patients with epilepsy secondary to underlying structural causes had the worst prognosis, with higher mortality.