The Mayo Clinic Family Study of Parkinson’s Disease: Study Design, Instruments, and Sample Characteristics

Vol. 24, No. 3, 2005

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Original Paper

The Mayo Clinic Family Study of Parkinson's Disease: Study Design, Instruments, and Sample Characteristics
Walter A. Rocca^a,b, Brett J. Peterson^a, Shannon K. McDonnell^a, James H. Bower^b, J. Eric Ahlskog^b, Daniel J. Schaid^a, Demetrius M. Maraganore^b

Departments of
^aHealth Sciences Research and
^bNeurology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minn., USA

Address of Corresponding Author

Neuroepidemiology 2005;24:151-167 (DOI: 10.1159/000083612)

Key Words

Familial aggregation
Family study
Parkinson's disease
Study design
Data collection instruments
Bias

Abstract

We describe here the Mayo Clinic Family Study of Parkinson's disease (PD), including the overall study design (historical cohort study of relatives from birth to onset of PD or censoring), the data collection instruments, the strategies implemented to prevent or measure biases, and the sample obtained. These methodological details may provide assistance to other investigators designing studies of the familial aggregation of PD or other aging-related chronic diseases. We investigated the incidence of PD and other neurodegenerative diseases among 1,001 first-degree relatives of 162 patients with PD and 851 relatives of 147 controls representative of the population of Olmsted County, Minn., USA. In addition, we studied 2,713 first-degree relatives of 411 patients with PD referred to the Mayo Clinic. Finally, we studied a group of 625 spouses of either cases or controls. Relatives with PD or other neurodegenerative diseases were ascertained using the family study method.

Author Contacts

Dr. Walter A. Rocca
Division of Epidemiology, Department of Health Sciences Research
Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW
Rochester, MN 55905 (USA)
Tel. +1 507 284 3568, Fax +1 507 284 1516, E-Mail rocca@mayo.edu

Article Information

Published online: January 25, 2005
Number of Print Pages : 17
Number of Figures : 5, Number of Tables : 3, Number of References : 43

Medline Abstract (ID 15677876)

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