Table 5.

Timeframes for the different stages in the diagnosis pathway of PD

Time points of the diagnostic process	Average lead times [days]	Median lead times [days]	Standard deviations [days]	Extreme values (Min*/Max) [days]	Missing data (/n = 50)
From the patient’s first symptoms reported to their documentation by the GP	553	30	+/−1.731	(−2554/7171)	1
From the patient’s initial non-motor symptoms reported to their documentation by the GP	1. 879
From the documentation of the first symptoms of all kinds by the GP to the suspicion of PD by the GP	70	0	+/−236	(−30/1.587)	1
From suspicion of PD based on non-motor symptoms by the GP to referral to the neurologist.	93	0	+/−450	(−1461/2081)
From suspicion of PD based on motor symptoms by the GP to referral to the neurologist.	28
From initiation of treatment by the GP to referral to the neurologist	196		+/−553	(0/2.081)
From referral to the neurologist to the first appointment with the neurologist	114	53	+/−503	(−1505/2826)
From the first appointment with the neurologist to further examinations by the neurologist	141	29	+/−350	(−2/1.460)
From complementary examinations to initiation treatment by the neurologist	33	−9	+/−150	(−116/470)	1
From the first appointment with the neurologist to the initiation of treatment by the neurologist	6	0	+/−168	(−729/477)
From the first symptoms of all kinds to the initiation of treatment by the GP	1.324	121	+/−2.267	(3/7.171)
From the first motor symptoms to the initiation of treatment by the GP	133
From the first symptoms of all kinds to the initiation of treatment by the neurologist	456	243	+/−1.345	(−3.947/4.327)
From the first consultation to the last consultation with the neurologist	1.163	323	+/−2.425	(−75/15.061)
From the start of treatment to the last consultation with the neurologist	1.740	881	+/−2.836	(0/15.061)

*Negative extreme values appeared when a patient already has been seen by a neurologist for another reason than PD, before the GP documents symptoms possibly linked to PD. Another situation is when a patient had another GP before the participating GP and already has been diagnosed with PD but the new GP documented new symptoms during PD evolution. We calculated the different delays in days from concrete dates documented in the patient files. We calculated delays from a point X (e.g symptoms noticed by the patient) to a point Y (e.g. symptoms reported by the patient to the GP who documents them in the patient file). This generally supposes a positive number of days as X comes before Y based on our initial hypothesis. All events that happened before X on the timeline inverse the chronology into negative values