Key clinical point: The use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD) or corticosteroids did not affect the risk for Parkinson's disease (PD) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), except for chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine, which may be potentially associated with a reduced PD risk.
Major finding: At 3 years, the use of DMARDs or corticosteroids was not associated with the risk for PD, except for chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine, which was associated with a decreased risk (adjusted odds ratio 0.74; 95% CI 0.56-0.97).
Study details: The findings come from the nested nationwide, case-control study including 315 cases with RA diagnosed at least 3 years before the diagnosis of PD. Cases were matched to 1,571 control participants without PD but with RA.
Disclosures: The study was funded by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Paakinaho A et al. Neurology. 2022 (Jan 21). Doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000013303