Abstract

Background
Access to care for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD), in particular to device-aided therapies (DAT), is not equally distributed.
Objectives
To analyse accessibility to DAT (deep brain stimulation; intraduodenal levodopa pump therapy; or apomorphine pump therapy) in Poland.
Methods
We analysed the distribution of DAT use in Poland by determining the number of persons with PD receiving one of the three DATs during 2015-2021.
Results
In 2021 the number of persons receiving DAT in Poland was 0.56% of the total PD population, having increased from 0.21% in 2015. Overall, deep brain stimulation was the preferred DAT in Poland, but strong regional differences in the use of the other DAT were present. Accessibility to DAT was negatively associated with average annual income (p<0.001).
Conclusions
Access to DAT for PD in Poland is still limited and accessibility showed strong regional differences, although its general increase over the last decade is encouraging.

• Keywords: Parkinson’s disease, device-aided therapies;