Parkinson's Disease in African American and Caucasian Patients

More than 10 million people worldwide are living with Parkinson's disease (PD). While the actual number of African American (or Black) patients with PD is unknown, it is clear that there are racial disparities in the access to health care, diagnosis, treatment and survival of PD. The lack of clear knowledge on the possibly lower PD prevalence among African Americans compared to Caucasians further calls for more research in this field. The University of Chicago Medicine is an ideal facility to study this topic, due to its location on the South Side of Chicago with a large African American (or Black) population. By analyzing the demographics, socioeconomics and clinical features of PD patients in our Center for Research Informatics in African American (or Black) patients compared to the Caucasians of similar geographical area, the investigators aim to work toward a better understanding of the unique features of PD in American American (or Black) population, which might help improve the healthcare among this population in the Chicago and possibly nationwide as well.