Proximity to Golf Courses and Risk of Parkinson Disease.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Case-control study
PubMed 40338549 · doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.9198
What was done
A population-based case-control study evaluated 419 incident Parkinson disease (PD) cases and 5,113 matched controls from the Rochester Epidemiology Project (1991–2015). Investigators assessed associations between incident PD and spatial proximity to golf courses, residence in municipal water service areas with golf courses, and groundwater vulnerability, adjusting for age, sex, race and ethnicity, index year, median household income, and urban/rural status.
What was found
Living within 1 mile of a golf course was associated with higher odds of incident PD compared with living more than 6 miles away (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.26; 95% CI, 1.09–4.70). Living in a water service area with a golf course was associated with increased odds of PD compared with areas without golf courses (aOR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.20–3.23) and compared with private wells (aOR, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.05–2.13). Living in a water service area with a golf course in a vulnerable groundwater region carried increased odds compared with nonvulnerable groundwater regions (aOR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.09–3.03).
Why it matters
This study links residential proximity to golf courses and vulnerable groundwater municipal systems with Parkinson disease risk, highlighting drinking water as a possible exposure pathway.
Limits
Pesticide exposure was inferred entirely from residential proximity and municipal water boundaries rather than direct environmental sampling or biological assays. The population from the Rochester Epidemiology Project was predominantly White (88.1% of controls), limiting generalizability, and residual confounding from unmeasured occupational or environmental exposures remains possible.
Cited by
- supports A study by Dr. Brittany Krzyzanowski and Dr. Rodolfo Savica in Rochester, Minnesota, found that living within one mile of a golf course was associated with a 126% increased risk of developing Parkinson's compared to living six miles or more away.