China is witnessing an accelerated aging process and an increasingly serious situation of Parkinson's disease. Research on the pre-disease stage and its related influencing factors has gained more and more attention.

To analyze the current situation of prodromal Parkinson's disease (pPD) of people aged 55 years and above in four provinces of China, and to explore its influencing demographic and socio-economic characteristics.

Using the data of Community-based Cohort Study on Nervous System Disease in 2020, a total of 10724 participants with complete data on demographic and socio-economic factors and risk factors on Parkinson's disease were selected. Based on the criteria recommended by the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society (MDS), we evaluated risk level (i.e., post-test probability) of pPd, prevalence of possible or probable pPD, and number of pPD-related risk/prodromal markers in the participants. Multiple linear regression and multiple logistic regression models were used to analyze the influencing socio-demographic factors of risk level of pPd and prevalence of possible or probable pPD, and Poisson regression and multinomial logit regression models were used to analyze the influencing socio-demographic factors of the number of pPD-related risk/prodromal markers in the total sample, men, and women, respectively.

The median (P₂₅, P₇₅) of post-test probability of pPD in 2020 was 0.78% (0.42%, 1.66%), the prevalence rate of possible or probable pPD was 0.34%, and 69.03% of the participants reported 3-5 pPD-related risk/prodromal markers. The post-test probabilities of men, those with older age, lower education level, per capita monthly household income < 1000 yuan, urban residency, or without active employment were higher (P<0.05). Men and being aged ≥ 75 years had a higher prevalence of possible or probable pPD (P<0.05). The OR of possible or probable pPD was 8.404 (95%CI: 2.839−24.879) in subjects aged ≥ 75 years versus those aged 55−64 years. Males, those without active employment, being less educated, with older age, and urban residents were more likely to report pPD-related risk/prodromal markers than those of the opposite groups (P<0.05).

Men, subjects aged ≥75 years, those with lower education level, urban residents, and those without active employment have higher risk levels of pPD and are more likely to report pPD-related risk/prodromal markers among people aged 55 years and above in the four provinces of China, poor economic situation is also associated with higher risk levels of pPD.