People with Parkinson’s disease have a higher risk of dying from Covid-19, study finds

A new database study of around 80,000 Covid-19 patients has found that those living with Parkinson’s disease have a 30% higher risk of dying from the virus than those without the condition.

The study – conducted by researchers at the University of Iowa Health Care, US – identified that Covid-19 patients with Parkinson’s disease were generally older, more likely to be male and less likely to be African American.

As these factors could also affect the risk of death from Covid-19, the researchers adjusted their statistical models to account for differences in sex, age and race and found a significantly higher risk of dying from Covid-19 in the group of patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Lead researcher Dr Nandakumar Narayanan said: “We recognise the limitations of this study; it is retrospective data from a single database, but we are confident that these data show that Parkinson’s disease is [an] independent risk factor for death in Covid-19.”

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