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Volume 9
Journal of Neurology and Neuroscience
ISSN: 2171-6625
Page 53
JOINT EVENT
July 23-24, 2018 Birmingham, UK
&
24
th
International Conference on
Neuroscience and Neurochemistry
26
th
Edition of International Conference on
Clinical Psychology and Neuroscience
Prevalence of Huntington’s disease in Asia: A systematic review meta-analysis
Basavaraja Papanna
and
Carlo Lazzari
Essex Partnership University, UK
T
he epidemiological studies on Huntington’s disease (HD) suggest that prevalence rates in the Asian population are
significantly lower than the western population. There are preliminary observations that would propose that HD is
underestimated in some Asian countries due to stigma related to diagnosis, normalization of behaviors, or use of restricted
methods (genetic and neurological) for confirming the diagnosis of HD. This systematic review of epidemiological data of
HD prevalence in Asia has highlighted the level of impact of HD on the Asian population. Original articles and reviews about
HD prevalence in the Asian population were found through available databases such as EMBASE, Medline, and PsycInfo.
Relevant articles were analyzed with the scrutiny of references including specific keywords. A meta-analysis was performed
on prevalence rates to find the degree of similarities with I2. Point prevalence was measured as the number of people affected
by HD on 100,000 populations. Results show the highest point prevalence of HD in the Indian subpopulations of Pakistan,
Punjab, and Gujarat with 1.35 (OR95%CI=1.14-1.57) (Table 1). The lowest point prevalence was found in the Chinese
population with 0.25 (OR95%CI=0.16-0.36). Europe remains at a high prevalence compared to Asian countries with 1.00
(OR95%CI=0.82-1.19). Results also show that the prevalence rates have statistical significant variability in all Asian countries
(I2=93.90%, p=<0.001). The overall prevalence in the world is 0.61 (OR95%CI=0.43-0.81). Our study reveals that Huntington’s
disease affects the population in Asia to a lesser extent than Europe, although some countries like Indian subpopulations of
Pakistan, Punjab, and Gujarat present with the highest global prevalence. The plausible explanation is that some countries did
not adopt genetic and neurological testing while affected individuals will not self-refer to HD screening for fear of social stigma
and negative influence in marriage.
Recent Publications
1. Leung CM, Chan YW, Chang CM, Yu YL and Chen CN (1992) Huntington’s disease in Chinese: a hypothesis of its
origin. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 55:681-684.
2. Chen Y-Y, Lai and C-H (2010) Nationwide population-based epidemiological study of Huntington’s disease in Taiwan.
Neuroepidemiology 35:250-254.
3. Shiwach RS and Lindenbaum RH (1990) Prevalence of Huntington's disease among UK immigrants from the Indian
subcontinent. The British Journal of Psychiatry 15(4):598-599.
4. Nakashima K, et al. (1996) Epidemiological and genetic studies of Huntington's disease in the San-in area of Japan.
Neuroepidemiology 15(3):126-31.
5. Adachi Y and Nakashima K (1999) Population genetic study of Huntington's disease-prevalence and founder's effect
in the San-in area, western Japan. Nihon Rinsho, Japanese Journal of Clinical Medicine 57(4):900-4.
Biography
Basavaraja Papanna is a Medical laureate with Postgraduate training and degree in Neurosciences. He is the Member of the Neuroscience Committee at the Royal
College of Psychiatry in United Kingdom. His research interests and publications include Neuropsychiatry, Huntington Disease, General Adult Psychiatry, and Sleep
Disorders. He is conducting a research study in the epidemiology of Huntington’s diseases in Asia using genetic diagnostic methods.
b.papanna@nhs.netBasavaraja Papanna et al., J Neurol Neurosci 2018, Volume 9
DOI: 10.21767/2171-6625-C2-012