Background: Non-motor symptoms are common among patients with Parkinson disease and include cognitive, psychiatric, sleep and autonomic dysfunctions.
Aim: To determine if the detection of non-motor symptoms along with the appropriate referral to an specialist has an impact on their prevalence after one year follow-up.
Material and methods: We included 60 patients diagnosed with Parkinson's disease attending to the Movement Disorder Clinic. The presence of non-motor symptoms was determined by the non-motor symptom questionnaire (NMSQuest).
Results: The mean NMSQuest scores at baseline and at one year follow up were 12.6 ± 6.2 and 9.9 ± 5.6, respectively (p < 0.01). The non-motor symptoms that showed a statistically significant differences in frequency between baseline and the final assessment, were constipation (p = 0.04), urinary urgency (p = 0.02), hallucinations (p = 0.04), dizziness (p = 0.02) and vivid dreams (p = 0.04).
Conclusions: Intentional search for non-motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease along with a multidisciplinary approach has an impact on their prevalence. The change in specific symptoms is probably related to adjustments in dopaminergic management.