Category: Parkinsonism, Atypical: PSP, CBD
Objective: The objective of this study was to explore atypical features in the clinical phenotype of people with Parkinson’s disease (PwP) enrolled in the East London Parkinson’s Disease (ELPD) project. This work included data from PwP from South Asian, Black, and White ethnic groups and looked at falls, recurrent falls (≥3), early falls (<3 years from diagnosis), and/or the presence of a vertical gaze palsy.
Background: Falls are a common occurrence in PwP; however, few comparative studies delineate if certain ethnicities experience a larger number of patients with early or recurrent (≥3) falls, non-motor symptoms causing an increased falls risk (e.g., nocturia) and vertical gaze palsy.
Method: Data on 203 PwP enrolled in the ELPD project was collected from clinic letters and inpatient notes regarding: patient ethnicities, characteristics of falls (i.e., frequency, timing, and nature), presence of vertical gaze restriction, and results from a non-motor symptoms scale, the NMSQ. Chi-Squared or Fisher’s exact tests were used for analysis in the IBM SPSS program v29.0.2.0.
Results: White PwP experienced more frequent falls (61.7%) than Black (50%) and South Asian (42.4%) patients (p=0.034). Comparatively, the NSMQ showed no significant difference in reported falls. Frequency of recurrent and early falls did not differ between ethnic groups (p=0.685 & p=0.089). Most falls, 94.6%, were due to PD/PD-drugs, with only 5.4% secondary to non-PD causes. The NMSQ showed that most patients with falls also experienced urinary symptoms (58.5%). Vertical gaze palsy was more frequent in Black patients (12.5%) compared to White (3.19%) and Asian (2.34%), p=0.09.
Conclusion: Our analysis shows that overall, White PwP appear to be at greater risk of falls, but not of early or recurrent falls. Most falls were attributable to PD rather, and most patients with falls also reported urinary symptoms on the NMSQ. A larger proportion of Black patients had vertical gaze palsy – a feature commonly associated with progressive supranuclear palsy. Further studies in diverse patient groups are needed to investigate the prevalence of atypical features in PD.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
D. Trivedi, C. Edwards, KC. Dey, E. Camboe, T. Haque, A. Joseph, J. Kahan, D. Gallagher, T. Boyle, C. Budu, B. Huxford, C. Simonet, S. Ganesh, A. Lee, C. Marshall, A. Noyce, A. Zirra. Ethnic Diversity and Symptomatology in Parkinson’s Disease with a Focus on Falls and Vertical Gaze Palsy [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2024; 39 (suppl 1). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/ethnic-diversity-and-symptomatology-in-parkinsons-disease-with-a-focus-on-falls-and-vertical-gaze-palsy/. Accessed June 14, 2025.« Back to 2024 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/ethnic-diversity-and-symptomatology-in-parkinsons-disease-with-a-focus-on-falls-and-vertical-gaze-palsy/