This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal

Emre Kokmen, MD; F. Sibel Özekmekçi, MD; C. Mary Beard, RN, MPH; Peter C. O'Brien, PhD; Leonard T. Kurland, MD

Arch Neurol. 1994;51(7):696-698.

Abstract
Objective
To calculate average annual incidence rates for Huntington's disease (HD) from 1950 through 1989 and to estimate prevalence rates of the disease for January 1, 1960, and January 1, 1990.

Design
Health care records from all sources, including hospitals, outpatient clinics, and long-term care institutions, are readily available for all inhabitants of Olmsted County, Minnesota. The diagnoses entered in these records have been coded and indexed. All health care records containing a diagnosis that might suggest HD were reviewed, and those patients for whom the symptoms of HD began between January 1, 1950, and December 31, 1989, were identified. We used specific criteria for diagnosing HD.

Participants
Health care records were reviewed; residence in Olmsted County during the year of symptom onset was required.

Main Outcome Measures
Average annual incidence rates and prevalence rates for January 1,1960, and January 1, 1990.

Results
Overall incidence rates were 0.4 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.1 to 0.8) for women and 0.2 (95% CI, 0.04 to 0.6) for men per 100 000 person-years. Estimated prevalence rates for January 1, 1960, per 100 000 person-years were 6 (95% CI, 0.7 to 21.5) for women and 6.6 (95% CI, 0.8 to 23.8) for men. For January 1, 1990, the prevalence rates were 1.8 (95% CI, 0.04 to 10.2) for women and 2 (95% CI, 0.05 to 10.9) for men.

Conclusions
Incidence and prevalence rates of HD in this community are similar to those reported in other communities. The small numbers of affected persons do not allow an estimate of variation over time.

Author Affiliations
From the Departments of Neurology (Dr Kokmen) and Health Sciences Research (Ms Beard and Drs O'Brien and Kurland), Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn; and the Department of Neurology, Cerrahpaa Tip Fakultesi, Istanbul, Turkey (Dr Özekmekçi).

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Incidence and mutation rates of Huntington's disease in Spain: experience of 9 years of direct genetic testing
Ramos-Arroyo et al.
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 2005;76:337-342.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT