Parkinson’s disease in older people

The prevalence of Parkinson’s disease (PD) increases with age. Caring for people with this condition frequently requires it to be considered within a wider context of both health and social factors. Diagnosis is made eliciting the hallmark motor signs, which can be confounded by signs from other co-morbidities such as depression, arthritis and cognitive impairment. The disease can be divided into four stages – diagnostic, maintenance, complex and palliative – reflecting an individual’s needs. Alternative approaches include the Braak, and Hoehn and Yahr, stagings, using pathophysiological and clinical features, respectively.