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Initial pharmacotherapy in a population of veterans with Parkinson disease.

Swarztrauber K, Koudelka C, Brodsky MA

Parkinson Disease Research Education and Clinical Center, Portland VA Medical Center, Portland, OR, USA. swarztra@ohsu.edu

The authors analyzed patient and prescribing provider characteristics for 530 veterans identified from VA pharmacy records with Parkinson disease (PD) and initial pharmacotherapy. Neurologists prescribed 29% of initial therapy. While a patient being younger and seeing a movement disorder specialist predicted receiving dopamine agonists, only 20% of patients younger than age 65 years received dopamine agonists. Initial pharmacotherapy is strongly influenced by the provider's specialty but mostly initiated by providers without PD expertise.

Published 9 May 2006 in Neurology, 66(9): 1425-6.
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