Objective: To identify various non-motor symptoms experienced by individuals with PD and to assess the likelihood of these symptoms being treated relative to individuals without PD.

Background: Neuropalliative care is a rising field in neurology that focuses on a symptom-based treatment model for individuals diagnosed with life-changing neurological conditions, including Parkinson Disease (PD). The management of non-motor symptoms of PD is crucial to maintain quality of life in this patient population. While data exists related to frequencies of non-motor symptoms in PD, there is limited research on the likelihood of these symptoms being experienced relative to individuals without PD along with slim research on the likelihood of treatment of these conditions relative to individuals without PD.

Method: Data was collected from the Fox Data Exploration Network and analyzed using SPSS data software. Two logistic regression models were run: The first model assessed non-motor symptoms of PD, and the second model assessed reported treatment for multiple non-motor symptoms of PD.

Results: 42,875 participants were included in the first regression and 2,060 participants were included in the second regression. Of the 30,844 individuals with PD, 86.5% reported sleep disturbances, 85.4% reported incontinence to urine, 66.7% reported constipation, 59.9% reported dizziness, 54.9% reported anxiety, 49.9% reported pain, 37.8% reported difficulty swallowing, and 34.3% reported saliva overproduction. Individuals with PD were significantly more likely to report saliva overproduction (OR 3.2, CI [2.9-3.4]), swallowing difficulty (OR 1.4 [1.3-1.5]), constipation (OR 2.0, CI [1.9-2.1]), urinary incontinence (OR 1.7, CI [1.6-1.8]), pain (OR 1.3, [1.2-1.4]), anxiety (OR 1.1, CI [1.0-1.2]), dizziness (OR 1.3, CI [1.2-1.4]), and poor sleep (OR 1.2, CI [1.1-1.3]). However, individuals with PD were not more likely to report treatment of pain, gastric disturbances, and anxiety.

Conclusion: The current data analysis shows that individuals with PD are significantly more likely to report systemic issues affecting multiple organ systems and a smaller subpopulation analysis reveals that there is no significant difference in likelihood of treatment for some of these conditions between people with and without PD. These results support the use of a neuropalliative care model of treatment for individuals with PD.

References: The Fox Insight Study (FI) is funded by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. We would like to thank the Parkinson’s community for participating in this study to make this research possible.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/non-motor-symptoms-in-parkinson-disease-a-target-for-neuropalliative-care-intervention/