Does Parkinson's disease interfere with electromyographic fatigue of masticatory muscles?

ABSTRACT

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disease with manifestations related to oxidative stress and damage to the skeletal striated musculature. This study evaluated the electromyographic fatigue of the masseter and temporal muscles in individuals with Parkinson's disease. The median frequency of the normotensive electromyographic signal was analyzed in 16 individuals, aged between 50 and 70 years, with Parkinson's disease in stages I and III of the Hoehn and Yahr disability scale (n=8) or without the disease (n=8). The data were tabulated and analyzed statistically (t-test, p .05). Compared with the group without Parkinson's disease, the group with the disease showed an increase in the median frequency, with significant differences for the right masseter (p=.05) and the right temporal (p=.03) muscles. The results suggest that there is a link between Parkinson's disease and functional alterations of the masticatory system, especially when electromyographic fatigue is assessed.