Nonmotor symptoms in de novo Parkinson disease comparing to normal aging.

OBJECTIVE: Nonmotor symptoms (NMSs) are common in Parkinson disease (PD), affecting patient's quality of life. The prevalence and domains of NMSs in untreated de novo PD remains unclear, especially comparing to normal aging. The objective was to determine NMSs in untreated de novo PD patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study to evaluate the frequency and severity of NMSs in untreated de novo PD patients (n=71) and age-matched normal controls (n=60) using the Non-Motor Symptoms Scale (NMSS). The motor section of the Unified Parkisnon Disease Rating Scale (mUPDRS) and the Hoehn and Yahr (HY) stage were also obtained in PD patients RESULTS: The number of NMSs and the NMSS scores were significantly higher in the PD patients than in controls (p<0.001). There was no correlation of the NMSS scores with age and sex in both group and additionally with mUPDRS score and HY stage in PD patients group. Mood/cognition, attention/memory and gastrointestinal domains are the most frequent in PD patients and rarely seen in controls.

CONCLUSION: NMSs in untreated de novo PD patients are more prevalent and severe with different domain involvement comparing to normal aging.