Appendectomy and risk of Parkinson's disease: A nationwide cohort study with more than 10 years of follow‐up

OBJECTIVES: The appendix may be a key site for the initiation of Parkinson's disease (PD) pathology. We examined the hypothesis that appendectomy is associated with lower PD risk. METHODS: We used Danish medical and administrative registries to construct a cohort of all patients in Denmark with an operation code of appendectomy during 1980-2010 (n = 265,758) and a matched general population comparison cohort (n = 1,328,790). Using Cox regression, we computed hazard ratios and corresponding 95% confidence intervals for PD, adjusting for potential confounders and stratifying on age at appendectomy (≤45 years / > 45 years), sex, and follow-up time. RESULTS: During follow-up ( > 10 years), PD incidence was 0.19 and 0.15 per 1,000 person-years at risk in the appendectomy cohort and in the general population comparison cohort, respectively, yielding a slightly increased risk of PD (adjusted hazard ratio = 1.14; 95% confidence interval 1.03-1.27). Findings were consistent after more than 20 years of follow-up and when stratified on age of appendectomy and sex. CONCLUSION: Appendectomy was associated with a small increase in PD risk 10 or more years after surgery.