Citation

Alvarado-Bolaños A, Cervantes-Arriaga A, Arredondo-Blanco K, Salinas-Barboza K, Isais-Millán S, Rodríguez-Violante M. Arq. Neuropsiquiatr. 2019; 77(11): 761-767.

Affiliation

Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía, Clínica de Trastornos del Movimiento, Mexico City, Mexico.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Associacao Arquivos De Neuro-Psiquitria)

DOI

10.1590/0004-282X20190148

PMID

31826131

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Falls are common among persons with Parkinson's disease (PD). On the other hand, predicting falls is complex as there are both generic and PD-specific contributors. In particular, the role of non-motor symptoms has been less studied.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to identify the role of non-motor predictors of falling in persons with PD (PwP).

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in PwP recruited from a movement disorders clinic. Clinical and demographical data were collected. All PwP were assessed using the Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) and the Non-Motor Symptoms Scale (NMSS). Variables were assessed at the bivariate level. Significant variables were put into a logistic regression model.

RESULTS: A total of 179 PwP were included. Overall, 16.8% of PwP had fallen in the past 12 months, with 53.3% of them being recurrent fallers. The mean number of monthly falls was 2.5 ± 3.3. Factors associated with falling in the bivariate analysis included the disease duration, Hoehn and Yahr stage, MDS-UPDRS part I and II, postural instability/gait disturbance (PIGD) subtype, NMSS urinary domain, NMSS miscellaneous domain, and non-motor severity burden (all p-values < 0.05). After multivariate analysis, only the disease duration (p = 0.03) and PIGD (p = 0.03) remained as independent risk factors.

CONCLUSION: Disease duration and the PIGD subtype were identified as relevant risk factors for falls in PwP Non-motor symptoms appear to have a less important role as risk factors for falls.

Language: en