Introduction: Freezing of gait, a common PD motor symptom, could increase the risk of falling. This study aimed to investigate the clinimetric attributes of the Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (FOGQ) for people with Parkinson disease in the “off” state. Methods: A total of 115 patients with Parkinson disease (PD; mean age, 60.25 years) were included. Acceptability, internal consistency (by the ...

Background: Apathy occurs frequently in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), and has a negative impact on activities of daily living through loss of motivation. Pramipexole (PPX), which shows preferential affinity for D3 dopamine receptor in the mesolimbic system, is thought to influence mood and motivation. Therefore, we conducted an open-label case-control study to examine the effect of PP...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate predictors of the response to doxazosin, a selective alpha-adrenoceptor antagonist, when used for the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms in men with Parkinson's disease. METHODS In a prospective study, 33 consecutive men (mean age 59.2 ± 7.0 years) with Parkinson's disease and lower urinary tract symptoms were evaluated. Neurological dysfunction was assessed with...

Background: Retrospective studies suggest that many Parkinson’s disease patients have a worsening of their motor status during hospitalization. We aimed to quantify this prospectively, and study possible contributing factors. Methods: Over one year we included all consecutive Parkinson’s disease patients, newly admitted to a Dutch teaching hospital. We analyzed complications, interventions, and...

BACKGROUND Although significant response time deficits (both reaction time and movement time) have been identified in numerous studies of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), few attempts have been made to evaluate the use of these measures in screening for PD. METHODS Receiver operator characteristic curves were used to identify cutoff scores for a unit-weighted composite of two choice re...

The Movement Disorder Society Task Force for Rating Scales for Parkinson’s Disease prepared a critique of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). Strengths of the UPDRS include its wide utilization, its application across the clinical spectrum of PD, its nearly comprehensive coverage of motor symptoms, and its clinimetric properties, including reliability and validity. Weaknesses ...

RATIONALE Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) frequently suffer from psychiatric disorders, and treating these symptom whereas managing the motor symptoms associated with PD can be a therapeutic challenge. PATIENT CONCERNS We report a case of PD patient with severe depression and anxiety that refused to be treated with dopaminagonists or SSRIs, the most common treatments for PD patients su...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Apathy is an important neuropsychiatric feature of Parkinson's disease (PD), which often emerges before the onset of motor symptoms. Patients with rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) have a high probability of developing PD in future. Neuropsychiatric problems are common in RBD, but apathy has not previously been detailed in this key prodromal population. ...