Proximity to Golf Courses and Risk of Parkinson Disease, 2025, Krzyzanowski et al

Proximity to Golf Courses and Risk of Parkinson Disease

Brittany Krzyzanowski, Aidan F. Mullan, E. Ray Dorsey, Sai Shivani Chirag, Pierpaolo Turcano, Emanuele Camerucci, James H. Bower, Rodolfo Savica

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Key Points
Question
Does living within proximity to a golf course affect the risk of Parkinson disease (PD)?

Findings
This case-control study found the greatest risk of PD within 1 to 3 miles of a golf course, and that this risk generally decreased with distance. Effect sizes were largest in water service areas with a golf course in vulnerable groundwater regions.

Meaning
These findings suggest that pesticides applied to golf courses may play a role in the incidence PD for nearby residents.

Abstract
Importance
The role of pesticide exposure from golf courses in Parkinson disease (PD) risk remains unclear.

Objective
To assess whether proximity to golf courses is associated with increased PD risk and to use information on groundwater vulnerability and municipal well locations to investigate drinking water contamination as a potential route of exposure.

Design, Setting, and Participants
This case-control study included patients with incident PD and matched controls from the Rochester Epidemiology Project from 1991 to 2015. Data were analyzed between June and August 2024.

Exposures
Distance to golf courses, living in water service areas with a golf course, living in water service areas in vulnerable groundwater regions, living in water service areas with shallow municipal wells, and living in water service areas with a municipal well on a golf course.

Main Outcome and Measures
Risk of incident PD. All models adjusted for age, sex, race and ethnicity, year of index, median household income, and urban or rural category.

Results
A total of 419 incident PD cases were identified (median [IQR] age, 73 [65-80] years; 257 male [61.3%]) with 5113 matched controls (median [IQR] age, 72 [65-79] years; 3043 male [59.5%]; 4504 White [88.1%]).

After adjusting for patient demographics and neighborhood characteristics, living within 1 mile of a golf course was associated with 126% increased odds of developing PD compared with individuals living more than 6 miles away from a golf course (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.26; 95% CI, 1.09-4.70).

Individuals living within water service areas with a golf course had nearly double the odds of PD compared with individuals in water service areas without golf courses (aOR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.20-3.23) and 49% greater odds compared with individuals with private wells (aOR, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.05-2.13).

Additionally, individuals living in water service areas with a golf course in vulnerable groundwater regions had 82% greater odds of developing PD compared with those in nonvulnerable groundwater regions (aOR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.09-3.03).

Conclusions and Relevance
In this population-based case-control study, the greatest risk of PD was found within 1 to 3 miles of a golf course and risk generally decreased with distance. Associations with the largest effect sizes were in water service areas with a golf course and in vulnerable ground water regions.

Link | PDF (JAMA Network Open) [Open Access]

 

A bit off topic, but I’m not in love with the word pesticide because a lot of people think this means insecticide. Golf courses are heavy users of herbicides, which are technically a type of pesticide.

Of some of the compounds mentioned in the paper:
MCPP, paraquat, 24D are herbicides.
maneb is a fungicide.

 

I’ve always known golf is bad for you