Session Information
Date: Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Session Title: Parkinsonisms and Parkinson-Plus
Session Time: 1:45pm-3:15pm
Location: Agora 3 West, Level 3
Objective: To examine differences in wearing off symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) according to gender, age, and age at PD diagnosis.
Background: Off symptoms in PD have a significant negative impact on quality of life. “Wearing off”, or the emergence of symptoms as the effect of a given dose of PD medication wanes, is often treatable with adjustments in medications or surgical interventions. Thus, diagnosis of wearing off is essential. Unfortunately, this phenomenon may go undetected in many patients. Better understanding of how patients’ off symptoms manifest in different PD populations is important to improving their detection.
Method: This was a cross-sectional survey study administered through Fox Insight, an online observational study of PD. 13,359 individuals self-reported as having PD and taking levodopa were invited to complete the survey. The Wearing Off Questionnaire-19 (WOQ-19) assessed off symptoms and their medication-responsiveness. Differences in self-identified males vs. females were examined, as were wearing off symptoms in relation to age at survey and age at PD diagnosis.
Results: 2113 respondents completed the survey, 1011 (52%) females, mean age 66.6 years, median duration since diagnosis 5.0 years. Females were 1 year younger at PD diagnosis compared to males (59.8 vs 60.8, p=0.017). Females reported a greater number of medication-responsive wearing off symptoms compared to males (5.4 vs. 4.9, p=0.003). Age at PD diagnosis (β=-0.009, p=0.034) and female gender (β=0.20, p=0.003) predicted non-motor symptom burden; only younger age at PD diagnosis predicted motor symptom burden (β=-0.057, p<0.001). Detailed analyses of wearing off symptom profiles according to demographic and disease characteristics will be presented.
Conclusion: Non-motor wearing off symptom burden varies according to age at PD diagnosis and gender. Symptom complex patterns in men and women with wearing off differ. An awareness of this will help in identification and management of off symptoms in PD.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
L. Chahine, G. Cummin, S. Chen, J. Buchanich, B. Edison, M. Daeschler, S. Kahl, C. Kopil, C. Marras. Demographic Influences on Wearing Off Symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2019; 34 (suppl 2). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/demographic-influences-on-wearing-off-symptoms-in-parkinsons-disease/. Accessed July 5, 2025.« Back to 2019 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/demographic-influences-on-wearing-off-symptoms-in-parkinsons-disease/