P-MD010. Early-onset parkinson’s disease in malaysian malays

Introduction. Although PD most commonly affects older individuals, it is not rare for people to be diagnosed in their 40 or 50s, in whom genetic factors presumably contribute a greater role in aetiology. To date, literature regarding epidemiology and genetics of PD in Malays remains very scarce. Methods. We analysed data from the PD registry of a tertiary hospital in East Peninsular Malaysia, collected over 2011–2019. Diagnosis of PD was assigned by neurologists using clinical diagnostic criteria. Patients with revised diagnoses during follow-up were removed from the registry. EOPD was defined using two age cut-offs: age of diagnosis 40 years and 50 years. Positive family history was defined as having at least one member in the immediate or extended family diagnosed with PD or having motor features that could be consistent with PD. Results. Two hundred and thirty-one Malay patients were included in this study. The frequency of EOPD was 4.32% (10/231) using the 40-years cut-off and 16.9% (39/231) using 50-years. Of 136 patients in whom family history information was available, 25 (18.4%) had a positive family history. Interestingly, none of those with PD diagnosis 40 years had a positive family history, while (4/31) 12.9% of those diagnosed at 50 years had a positive family history. Conclusion. This pilot study revealed a relatively high frequency of EOPD in Malays. Further studies to elucidate the role of genetics as well as environmental factors among Malay PD patients may potentially unravel new insights into disease causation.