Screening for non-motor symptoms in Egyptian patients with Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

Abstract Background Most of the patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) suffer from non-motor symptoms (NMS). Despite their marked effect on patients’ quality of life, NMS remain under-estimated by physicians, patients and caregivers. The aim of this study was to suggest a battery to screen for the presence of NMS in PD patients in the setting of an outpatient clinic and to assess the NMS of PD in Egyptian patients and factors affecting them. Results This study was conducted on 50 patients with PD, 35 males (70%) and 15 females (30%) whom their age ranged from 36 to 80 years with a mean of 62.88 ± 8.74 years. All patients were assessed using the Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS), Apathy Scale (AS), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and Parkinson’s Disease Sleep Scale (PDSS). The mean age at disease onset was 59.10 ± 9.34 years and the mean disease duration was 3.76 ± 3.16 years. 98% of patients (49 out of 50) had at least one non-motor symptom. The mean MDS-UPDRS scores were 15.74 ± 7.93 for part I, 17.94 ± 11.61 for part II and 42.32 ± 22.74 for part III. The mean score for AS was 9.90 ± 10.66 with 70% of patients considered apathetic. The mean MOCA score was 21.12 ± 4.73 with 38 patients (76%) found to be cognitively impaired. The mean HDRS score was 12.26 ± 8.52 with 34 patients (68%) found to be depressed. The mean PDSS score was 92.22 ± 32.53 with sleep disturbances found in 38 patients (76%). A statistically significant negative correlation was found between the HDRS and PDSS scores (P value < 0.001). Age of patients, age at disease onset and disease duration were not correlated to MDS-UPDRS, AS, MOCA, HDRS and PDSS scores. Conclusions Most of the patients with PD were found to suffer from NMS including apathy, cognitive impairment, depression and sleep disturbances. Physicians need to screen their PD patients for NMS on regular basis using the appropriate tools. Self-administered questionnaires could function as reliable screening tools for NMS in PD patients.