Session Information
Date: Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Session Title: Parkinson's disease: Psychiatric manifestations
Session Time: 12:00pm-1:30pm
Location: Exhibit Hall located in Hall B, Level 2
Objective: To explore the relationship between parkinsonism signs and anxiety symptoms in patients with idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD).
Background: A recent study reported that somatic symptoms on the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) questionnaire are influenced by motor and autonomic symptoms in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), suggesting potential confounding of anxiety assessment.[1] Given iRBD is considered as a risk factor for PD, and iRBD patients experience motor signs and autonomic symptoms, the same relationship could be found in this population.
Methods: Anxiety symptoms were assessed by the BAI in 65 iRBD patients confirmed by polysomnography (52 men; age: 66.92±7.26 years; education: 13.43±4.06 years). They were also evaluated by a neurologist specialized in movement disorders on the Unified Parkinson’s disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). Two-tailed Pearson correlations were used to assess relationships between the UPDRS part III (motor examination) and the five subscales of the BAI namely affective (items 4, 5, 9, 10, 14, 16, and 17), hyperventilation (items 11, 15, and 16), trembling (items 12 and 13), thermoregulation (items 2, 20, and 21), and hypotension (items 1, 6, 8, and 19).[1]
Results: In iRBD patients, motor signs (UPDRS-III) correlated positively with the BAI trembling (r=0.38; p<0.05) and hypotension (r=0.25; p<0.05) subscales. No correlation was observed between UPDRS-III score and BAI affective (r=0.11; p=0.38), hyperventilation (r=0.09; p=0.47), and thermoregulation (r=0.19; p=0.12) subscales.
Conclusions: In the present study, the trembling and hypotension subscales of the BAI were associated with motor impairment in iRBD. Thus, the BAI questionnaire should be use with caution to assess anxiety symptoms in patients with iRBD and PD. More studies are needed to determine if some subscales of the BAI are also linked to autonomic dysfunctions in iRDB. [1] Rutten S et al. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2015.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
F. Escudier, R.B. Postuma, P.A. Bourgouin, J. Montplaisir, J.F. Gagnon. Anxiety and parkinsonism signs in idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2016; 31 (suppl 2). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/anxiety-and-parkinsonism-signs-in-idiopathic-rem-sleep-behavior-disorder/. Accessed May 21, 2025.« Back to 2016 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/anxiety-and-parkinsonism-signs-in-idiopathic-rem-sleep-behavior-disorder/