Session Information
Date: Wednesday, June 7, 2017
Session Title: Phenomenology and Clinical Assessment Of Movement Disorders
Session Time: 1:15pm-2:45pm
Location: Exhibit Hall C
Objective: In this study we want to see what are the hardest and the most troublesome symptoms perceived by patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD).
Background: The modern management of PD is patient-oriented, but we still treat and consider mostly motor symptoms. Patients have a lot of motor and non-motor symptoms but their perceptions of the hardest and the most troublesome symptoms mostly differ from the doctor’s view. If we want to manage them effectively, we have to focus on patients’ perspective.
Methods: We asked 200 patients (mean age 69.09±0.7; man 55%, women 45%) that came during 3 months to our Centre to write their three most troublesome and the hardest symptoms in last 3 months. Also, we collected all other demographic data about them, Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y) scale score, treatment and divided them in early (≤6 years) and advanced (>6 years) groups considering symptoms onset.
Results: In the early group (92 patients, mean disease duration 3.5±0.5; mean H&Y 1.5) the most troublesome and the hardest symptoms were tremor (86.9%), slowness (52%), sleep problems (34.8%), shoulder pain (30.4%) and depression (13%). In advanced group (108 patients, mean disease duration 13.3±0.6; mean H&Y 4.0) were slowness (48.1%), gait (46.2%), tremor (33.3%), rigidity (33.3%), falls (12.9%) and unpredictable response to their medication (12.9%). In advanced stage patients treated with deep brain stimulation (38 patients, 26 man, 12 women) were younger (mean age 63.4±0.5), less disabling (mean H&Y 2.0) and theirs most troublesome symptoms were slowness (57%), gait (47%), unpredictable effect of medication (31.5%), drooling (21%) and rigidity (21%).
Conclusions: Our study has shown that we have to pay more attention to assess and control non-motor symptoms in early stage of PD to improve the management of the disease and quality of life because they bother the most patients in that stage together with tremor and slowness. In advance stage the most troublesome symptoms were motor with unpredictable response to medications, so we have to find more effective new techniques to control this symptoms better and improve more quality of life of PD patients.
References: Politis M, et al. Mov Disord 2010;25(11)1646-1651.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
V. Vuletic. The hardest symptoms that bother patients with Parkinson’s disease [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2017; 32 (suppl 2). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/the-hardest-symptoms-that-bother-patients-with-parkinsons-disease/. Accessed June 14, 2025.« Back to 2017 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/the-hardest-symptoms-that-bother-patients-with-parkinsons-disease/