Objective: To determine if the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted disease progression in people with Parkinson’s disease (PwPD)

Background: Few cross sectional and short-term longitudinal studies suggest that worsening of motor and non-motor symptoms occurred in PwPD during the COVID-19 pandemic. We sought to objectively determine changes in gait and non-gait assessments in PwPD objectively monitored before and during the pandemic

Method: We studied 25 PwPD prospectively followed in a longitudinal cohort with objectively measured continuous gait (stride length, stride velocity, stride time, foot-strike length, single and double support percentages), motor (Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale, Hoehn and Yahr, freezing of gait questionnaire), and non-motor (cognitive, mood, sleep and quality of life) assessments. Due to pandemic restrictions limiting in-person assessments for a period of about 52 weeks, we explored differences in each assessment in participants between two pre-pandemic visits (PPV 1&2) and between the last PPV (PPV2) and first during pandemic visit (DPV), each spaced 52 weeks apart. A repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine statistical significance between the three time points, with a post-hoc Bonferroni correction for pairwise comparisons of pre- and during-pandemic decline. The change (delta) between PPV1 & 2 (PPC) and PPV2 & DPV (DPC) was calculated for each individual for every assessment and group comparisons made using a paired two-tailed t-test

Results: In our cohort, the mean age was 64.3 years, mean disease duration 10.8 years and mean Hoehn & Yahr score 2.04. Of the 25 gait, motor and non-motor assessments performed, only variability (CV) in foot-strike length (F(1.78, 42.61)=4.72; p=0.02; mean PPC = -0.49±0.19; p=0.043; mean PDV = -0.01±0.15; p=1.000) and Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson’s Disease-Cognition (SCOPA-COG) (F(1.78, 42.65)=4.00; P=0.03; mean PPC=2.28±0.88; p=0.049; mean DPC=-0.08±0.79; p=1.000) significantly declined in the pandemic and not the pre-pandemic period. The delta PPC and DPC were not significantly different in any objective assessment, however, decline in CV stride length (p=0.07), CV stride velocity (p=0.08), CV foot-strike length (p=0.09) and SCOPA-Cog (p=0.08) were near significance

Conclusion: The pandemic did not significantly impact overall disease progression in our cohort of prospectively monitored PwPD

« Back to 2023 International Congress

MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/effect-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-on-gait-and-other-motor-and-non-motor-symptoms-in-people-with-parkinsons-disease/