Overview: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that is common in individuals over the age of 50 years, affecting about 1% of the population. Nonmotor symptoms (NMS) are a common occurrence in PD, but they are often ignored by motor symptoms. Studies have shown that NMS in PD show a significant impact on quality of life. The introduction of tools like nonmotor symptoms scale (NMSS) and unified Parkinson's disease rating scale (UPDRS) that have a specific nonmotor domain will assist in defining research and therapy to enhance the early identification and management of NMS in the affected population.
Aim of the study: (1) To evaluate the prevalence of NMS in different stages of idiopathic Parkinson's disease. (2) To correlate the prevalence of NMS with the duration and severity of the disease.
Materials and methods: The study involved 80 individuals who visited the Movement Disorder Clinic at Stanley Medical College and Hospital in Chennai and were diagnosed with idiopathic Parkinson's disease, which was in agreement with the United Kingdom Parkinson's Disease (UK PD) Brain Bank criteria.
Results: Out of the 80 study participants, 63.7% (n = 51) were male and 36.3% (n = 29) were female. In our study, the mean age of patients was 63.1 ± 7.01 years. The study population was predominantly aged 50-60 years (n = 36), followed by 61-70 years (n = 30), which made up more than 80% of the population. Age group of >71 years constituted only 17.5% (n = 14). Majority of the patients, that is, 42.5% (n = 34) were in stage 3 of Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y) staging. The mean and mode of H&Y stage were 2.7 ± 0.9 and 3, respectively. The mean duration of disease was 4.7 ± 2.7 years. The mean UPDRS score was 66 ± 24.5. The mean NMSS score was 32 ± 10.18.
Conclusion: NMSs are found to be highly prevalent among Indian patients with PD according to this study. The nonmotor symptom questionnaire aids in early detection and recognition of nonmotor symptoms in PD patients.
© Journal of The Association of Physicians of India 2024.