Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic on Parkinson's Disease: A Cross-Sectional Survey of 568 Spanish Patients.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to know the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on Spanish patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). METHODS: This is a descriptive, observational, cross-sectional study. An anonymous online survey with 95 questions was distributed among patients. Responses were collected from 11 May 2020 to 20 July 2020. RESULTS: Of a total of 570 questionnaires received, 568 (99.6%) were considered valid for the analysis (mean age, 63.5 ± 12.5 years; 53% females). A total of 553 patients (97.4%) were aware of the COVID-19 pandemic and 68.8% were concerned about it; 95.6% took preventive measures. A total of 484 patients (85.2%) had no contact with cases of COVID-19, and only 15 (2.6%) had confirmed COVID-19. Although up to 72.7% remained active during confinement, 65.7% perceived a worsening of their symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Spanish patients with PD perceived the COVID-19 pandemic with concern and responsibility. More than half experienced worsening of their symptoms during confinement. © 2020 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

The impact of freezing of gait on functional dependency in Parkinson's disease with regard to motor phenotype.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Freezing of gait (FOG) is a disabling symptom more frequent in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with postural instability gait difficulty (PIGD) phenotype. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of self-reported FOG in a large group of PD patients as well as assess its relationship with functional dependency with regard to motor phenotype. METHODS: The data correspond to the baseline evaluation of the COPPADIS-2015 study. Patients with FOG were identified as those with a score of 1 or greater on item-3 of the freezing of gait questionnaire (FOG-Q). Functional dependency was defined as a Schwab and England (S&E) ADL scale score less than 80%. PIGD and non-PIGD (tremor dominant + indeterminate) groups were considered regarding to motor phenotype. RESULTS: Among the 689 PD patients (62.6 ± 8.9 years old, 59.8% males), 240 reported FOG (34.8%), whereas 63 presented functional dependency (9.1%). A total of 22.1% of patients with FOG presented functional dependency vs. only 2.2% of those without FOG (p < 0.0001). FOG was related to functional dependency (OR = 3.470; 95%CI 1.411-8.530; p = 0.007) after adjustment to age, gender, disease duration, daily equivalent levodopa dose, comorbidity (number of non-antiparkinsonian drugs/day), motor status (UPDRS-III), PIGD phenotype, motor complications (UPDRS-IV), NMS burden (NMSS total score), cognition (PD-CRS), and mood (BDI-II). However, according to motor phenotype, FOG was related to functional dependency only in PIGD patients (OR = 7.163; 95%CI 1.206-42.564; p = 0.030). CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported FOG is associated with functional dependency in PIGD but not in non-PIGD motor phenotype patients.

Spatiotemporal Gait Patterns During Overt and Covert Evaluation in Patients With Parkinson´s Disease and Healthy Subjects: Is There a Hawthorne Effect?

Parkinson's disease (PD) and aging lead to gait impairments. Some of the disturbances of gait are focused on step length, cadence, and temporal variability of gait cycle. Under experimental conditions gait can be overtly evaluated, but patients with PD are prone to expectancy effects; thus it seems relevant to determine if such evaluation truly reflects the spontaneous gait pattern in such patients, and also in healthy subjects. Thirty subjects (15 subjects with PD and 15 healthy control subjects) were asked to walk using their natural, preferred gait pattern. In half of the trials subjects were made aware that they were being evaluated (overt evaluation), while in the rest of the trials the evaluation was performed covertly (covert evaluation). During covert evaluation the gait pattern was modified in all groups. Gait speed was significantly increased (P = .022); step cadence and average step length were also significantly modified, the average step length increased (P = .002) and the cadence was reduced (P ≤ .001). Stride cycle time variability was unchanged significantly (P = .084). These changes were not significantly different compared between elderly and young healthy controls either. Due to the small sample size, a note of caution is in order; however, the significant results suggest that covert evaluation of gait might be considered to complement experimental evaluations of gait.

Effects of movement imitation training in Parkinson's disease: A virtual reality pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Hypometria is a clinical motor sign in Parkinson's disease. Its origin likely emerges from basal ganglia dysfunction, leading to an impaired control of inhibitory intracortical motor circuits. Some neurorehabilitation approaches include movement imitation training; besides the effects of motor practice, there might be a benefit due to observation and imitation of un-altered movement patterns. In this sense, virtual reality facilitates the process by customizing motor-patterns to be observed and imitated. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of a motor-imitation therapy focused on hypometria in Parkinson's disease using virtual reality. METHODS: We carried out a randomized controlled pilot-study. Sixteen patients were randomly assigned in experimental and control groups. Groups underwent 4-weeks of training based on finger-tapping with the dominant hand, in which imitation was the differential factor (only the experimental group imitated). We evaluated self-paced movement features and cortico-spinal excitability (recruitment curves and silent periods in both hemispheres) before, immediately after, and two weeks after the training period. RESULTS: Movement amplitude increased significantly after the therapy in the experimental group for the trained and un-trained hands. Motor thresholds and silent periods evaluated with transcranial magnetic stimulation were differently modified by training in the two groups; although the changes in the input-output recruitment were similar. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study suggests that movement imitation therapy enhances the effect of motor practice in patients with Parkinson's disease; imitation-training might be helpful for reducing hypometria in these patients. These results must be clarified in future larger trials.