Management of the hospitalized patient with Parkinson's disease: current state of the field and need for guidelines.

Objective: To review the literature and to identify practice gaps in the management of the hospitalized Parkinson's disease (PD) patient.

Background: Patients with PD are admitted to hospitals at higher rates, and frequently have longer hospital stays than the general population. Little is known about outpatient interventions that might reduce the need for hospitalization and also reduce hospital-related complications.