Role of virtual reality in examining the effect of fear of falling (FOF) on postural stability in individuals without and with Parkinson's disease in Egypt: a mixed-methods feasibility study protocol.

BACKGROUND: Falls are common in older people and individuals with neurological conditions. Parkinson's disease (PD) is known for postural instability causing mobility disabilities, falls and reduced quality of life. The fear of falling (FOF), a natural response to unstable balance, can worsen postural control problems. Evaluating FOF relies largely on affected persons' subjective accounts due to limited objective assessment methods available. The aim of this mixed-methods feasibility study is to develop an assessment method for FOF while in motion and walking within virtual environments. This study will assess a range of FOF-related responses, including cognitive factors, neuromuscular response and postural stability. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This feasibility study will consist of four phases: the first two phases will include people without PD, while the other two will include people diagnosed with PD. Participants will be assessed for direct and indirect responses to real life, as well as virtual environment walking scenarios that may induce FOF. Data from questionnaires, different neurophysiological assessments, movement and gait parameters, alongside evaluations of usability and acceptability, will be collected. Semistructured interviews involving both participants and research assistants shall take place to elicit their experiences throughout different phases of the assessments undertaken. Demographic data, the scores of assessment scales, as well as feasibility, usability and acceptability of the measurement methods, will be illustrated via descriptive statistics. Movement and gait outcomes, together with neurophysiological data, will be extracted and calculated. Exploring relationships between different factors in the study will be achieved using a regression model. Thematic analysis will be the approach used to manage qualitative data. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This feasibility study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Physical Therapy, Kafr El Sheikh University, Egypt (number: P.T/NEUR/3/2023/46). The results of this study will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ClinicalTrials.gov Registry (NCT05931692).

A person-centered approach to characterizing longitudinal ambulatory impairment in Parkinson's disease.

Loss of ambulation is common and highly variable in Parkinson's disease (PD), and poorly understood from the perspectives of those with PD. Gaining insights to the anticipated perceived trajectories and their drivers, will facilitate patient-centered care. Latent class growth analysis, a person-centered mixture modelling approach, was applied to 16,863 people with PD stratified by early (N = 8612; < 3 years), mid (N = 6181; 3-10 years) and later (N = 2070; > 10 years) disease to discern clusters with similar longitudinal patterns of self-reported walking difficulty, measured by EuroQoL 5D-5L that is validated for use in PD. There were four clusters in early and mid-disease strata, with a fifth identified in later disease. Trajectories ranged from none to moderate walking difficulty, with small clusters with severe problems. The percentage of subjects with moderate (early = 17.5%, mid = 26.4%, later = 32.5%) and severe (early = 3.8%, mid = 7.4%, later = 15.4%) walking difficulty at baseline increased across disease duration groups. The trajectories tended to be stable with variability in moderate and severe groups. Across strata, clusters with moderate to severe problems were associated with more severe impairment, depression, anxiety, arthritis, higher BMI, lower income, and lower education, but no consistent race or gender differences. The findings reveal distinct longitudinal patterns in perceived difficulties in walking in PD.

Parkinson's disease with anxiety: clinical characteristics and their correlation with oxidative stress, inflammation, and pathological proteins.

OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to explore the differences in the clinical characteristics and oxidative stress indicators, inflammatory factors, and pathological proteins in serum between Parkinson's disease (PD) with anxiety (PD-A) and with no anxiety (PD-NA) patients, and further correlations among clinical characteristics and above variables were analyzed in PD-A and PD-NA groups. METHODS: A total of 121 patients with PD were enrolled in this study and assessed by the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (14 items) (HAMA-14). These patients were divided into PD-A and PD-NA groups according to a cut-off point of 7 of HAMA-14. Demographic variables were collected, and clinical symptoms were assessed by multiple rating scales. The levels of free radicals, inflammatory factors, and pathological proteins in serum were measured by chemical colorimetric method and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The differences of above variables were compared between PD-A and PD-NA groups, and the correlations of clinical symptoms with the abovevariables were analyzed in PD-A and PD-NA groups. RESULTS: The frequency of PD-A was 62.81%. PD-A group exhibited significantly impaired motor dysfunction and multiple non-motor symptoms, including fatigue, sleep behavior disorder, restless leg syndrome and autonomic dysfunction, and dramatically compromised activities of daily living compard with PD-NA group. PD-A group displayed prominently increasedlevels of hydroxyl radical (·OH) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and a decreased nitric oxide (NO) level in serum compared with PD-NA group (P<0.001, P = 0.001, P= 0.027, respectively). ·OH, NO, and TNF-α were identified as the risk factors of PD-A (OR = 1.005, P = 0.036; OR = 0.956, P = 0.017; OR = 1.039, P = 0.033, respectively). In PD patients, HAMA-14 score was significantly and positively correlated with the levels of ·OH and TNF-α in serum (P<0.001, P = 0.002, respectively). In PD-A group, ·OH level was significantly and negatively correlated with Aß1-42 level, while TNF-α level was significantly and positively correlated with P-tau (S396) level in serum. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of PD-A is high. PD-A patients present more severe motor dysfunction and multiple non-motor symptoms, and poorer activities of daily living. The increased levels of ·OH and TNF-α levels and the decreased NO level in serum are all associated with more severe anxiety in PD patients.Findings from this study may provide in-depth insights into the clinical characteristics, underlying mechanisms of PD-A, and potential correlations among anxiety, oxidative stress, inflammation, and cognitive decline in PD patients.

The correlation of orthostatic hypotension in Parkinson disease with the disease course and severity and its impact on quality of life.

We investigated the correlation of orthostatic hypotension (OH) in Parkinson disease (PD) with the disease course and severity, and its possible impact on quality of life. 171 PD patients were recruited and divided into the PD-NOH (n = 91) and PD-OH groups (n = 80). Clinical data were collected. The severity and quality of life of PD patients were evaluated. The impact of disease severity was analyzed using logistic regression analysis. The ROC curve was plotted. There were significant differences (P < .05) between PD-NOH and PD-OH groups in terms of the disease course, non-motor symptoms (somnipathy), Hoehn&Yahr stage, LEDD score, RBDSQ score, PDQ-39 score, MMSE score, MoCA, MDS-UPDRS Part III scores during off- and on-periods, and NMSS score. Hoehn&Yahr stage (OR 4.950, 95% CI 1.516-16.157, P = .008) was closely associated with the risk of OH in PD. PDQ-39 score (OR 1.079, 95% CI 1.033-1.127, P = .001) in PD patients with OH further decreased. Patients with PD-OH experienced severe impairment in 4 dimensions of quality of life, including motor function, cognitive function, physical discomfort, and activities of daily living. Different clinical symptoms of PD-OH were positively correlated with PDQ39 subscales. The area under the ROC curve of the Hoehn&Yahr stage in predicting the occurrence of OH was 0.679 (95% CI 0.600-0.758), and that of the Hoehn&Yahr stage combined with levodopa equivalent dose, and MDS-UPDRS Part III score during off-period was 0.793 (95% CI 0.727-0.862). Higher Hoehn&Yahr stage is associated with increased risk of OH in PD patients, and deteriorated quality of life of PD patients. Patients with different OH symptoms are affected in different dimensions of their quality of life. The Hoehn & Yahr stage can independently predict the risk of OH in PD patients.

There is 'no cure for caregiving': the experience of women caring for husbands living with Parkinson's disease.

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder. The majority of the nearly 9 million people living with Parkinson's disease are men. As such, caregiving is often assumed by wives as the disease progresses. However, there is little research about the lived experience of wives as they transition to caregivers. OBJECTIVE: To describe the lived experience of wife caregivers of male spouses living at home with Parkinson's disease. METHODS: A descriptive phenomenological study. Semi-structured interviews were recorded and transcribed for analysis in Atlas.ti using Colaizzi's method. RESULTS: Thirteen women, aged 50 to 83 years, were interviewed. Five themes emerged from the analysis, (1) caregiver who? (2) taking it day by day, (3) not sure what to do next, (4) just too much, and (5) caring is your soul's growth, to support the central theme "there is no cure for caregiving." CONCLUSION: Transitioning from wife to caregiver was a gradual but difficult process. Although the wife caregivers wanted to be part of the health care team, they remained outsiders. Clinicians need to recognize the wives as care coordinators linking medical management with home care. Policy makers need to develop reimbursement models that provide wife caregivers with support groups, education programs, and telemental health services.

Psychometric properties of the Parkinson's disease Questionnaire-39 and its short form Parkinson's disease Questionnaire-8: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Parkinson's disease (PD) affects Quality of Life (QoL), since it is responsible for cognitive impairment, non-motor, and motor symptoms. Outcome measures are fundamental for evaluating treatment's effect on QoL over time. This systematic review aimed to identify the psychometric properties of PDQ-39 and PDQ-8 in the different populations in which they were validated. The electronic databases systematically searched are MEDLINE (via PubMed), CINAHL, SCOPUS, and Web of Science; the research was conducted in July 2023. The psychometric properties considered were those of the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) checklist. Risk of bias was assessed using the COSMIN checklist. The search identified 1306 articles. 398 duplicates were eliminated; 908 articles were analyzed reading title and abstract; 799 were finally excluded because used PDQ-39 and PDQ-8 as outcome measures or were not dealing with psychometric properties; 66 articles were excluded after reading the full text. 43 articles were included in the review; meta-analysis showed all the Cronbach's alpha values were statistically significant for all the subscales of PDQ-39 and PDQ-8. PDQ-39 demonstrated to be a specific HRQoL questionnaire that is correlated with generic HRQoL questionnaires, in fact in many studies included in the review, correlations with SF-36 were found. In the last studies about psychometric properties of PDQ-8 emerged that it is a practical and informative instrument that can be easily used in clinical settings, especially in busy ones, but also in large-scale studies in which a brief instrument would be preferred.

Investigating underlying brain structures and influence of mild and subjective cognitive impairment on dual-task performance in people with Parkinson's disease.

Cognitive impairment can affect dual-task abilities in Parkinson's disease (PD), but it remains unclear whether this is also driven by gray matter alterations across different cognitive classifications. Therefore, we investigated associations between dual-task performance during gait and functional mobility and gray matter alterations and explored whether these associations differed according to the degree of cognitive impairment. Participants with PD were classified according to their cognitive function with 22 as mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI), 14 as subjective cognitive impairment (PD-SCI), and 20 as normal cognition (PD-NC). Multiple regression models associated dual-task absolute and interference values of gait speed, step-time variability, and reaction time, as well as dual-task absolute and difference values for Timed Up and Go (TUG) with PD cognitive classification. We repeated these regressions including the nucleus basalis of Meynert, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus. We additionally explored whole-brain regressions with dual-task measures to identify dual-task-related regions. There was a trend that cerebellar alterations were associated with worse TUG dual-task in PD-SCI, but also with higher dual-task gait speed and higher dual-task step-time variability in PD-NC. After multiple comparison corrections, no effects of interest were significant. In summary, no clear set of variables associated with dual-task performance was found that distinguished between PD cognitive classifications in our cohort. Promising but non-significant trends, in particular regarding the TUG dual-task, do however warrant further investigation in future large-scale studies.

Exploring the Spectrum of Visual Illusions and Other Minor Hallucinations in Patients with Parkinson's Disease in Lithuania.

Background and Objectives: Parkinson's disease (PD) is associated with various non-motor symptoms, including minor hallucinations, comprising visual illusions and presence and passage hallucinations. Despite their occurrence, even in newly diagnosed PD patients, data regarding the prevalence and characteristics of minor hallucinations, visual illusions in particular, remain limited. The aim of this study was to address this knowledge gap by assessing the prevalence of minor hallucinations in PD patients, with a focus on visual illusions. Materials and Methods: In this prospective pilot study, we enrolled 35 PD patients without dementia and 35 age- and gender-matched PD-unaffected individuals. Cognitive function was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, clinical data were collected, and all subjects were assessed via questionnaires regarding 20 types of visual illusions and other minor hallucinations. Results: The prevalence of minor hallucinations was significantly higher among PD patients compared to controls (45.7% vs. 11.4%, p = 0.003). PD patients reported visual illusions and presence hallucinations more frequently than the controls (37.1% vs. 8.6% and 22.9% vs. 2.9%, p = 0.009 and p = 0.028, respectively), with no significant difference in passage hallucinations (20% vs. 8.6%, p = 0.306). In the PD group, the most frequently observed visual illusions were complex visual illusions, kinetopsia, and pelopsia; the latter was also the most common visual illusion in the control group. PD patients experiencing visual illusions were more likely to report presence hallucinations compared to patients without visual illusions (53.8% vs. 4.5%, p = 0.002); no significant differences in other clinical characteristics were found. Conclusions: Minor hallucinations are a common phenomenon among PD patients without dementia, with a higher prevalence than among healthy controls. Visual illusions are the most prevalent type of minor hallucinations, affecting more than a third of PD patients, with complex visual illusions, kinetopsia, and pelopsia being the most frequently reported types.

Nurses, Clergy, Chaplains, Parkinson's Disease, Workplace Religiosity, Women's Health and Family Issues.

This issue of JORH explores a broad range of topics looking at the professions of nursing, clergy and chaplains. This issue also concludes the series on Parkinson's disease (Part 2), and for the first time, JORH presents a collation of articles relating to workplace religiosity. Finally, this issue revisits the topics of women's health and family issues in relation to religiosity and spirituality.

The impact of anxiety on gait impairments in Parkinson's disease: insights from sensor-based gait analysis.

BACKGROUND: Sensor-based gait analysis provides a robust quantitative tool for assessing gait impairments and their associated factors in Parkinson's disease (PD). Anxiety is observed to interfere with gait clinically, but this has been poorly investigated. Our purpose is to utilize gait analysis to uncover the effect of anxiety on gait in patients with PD. METHODS: We enrolled 38 and 106 PD patients with and without anxiety, respectively. Gait parameters were quantitively examined and compared between two groups both in single-task (ST) and dual-task (DT) walking tests. Multiple linear regression was applied to evaluate whether anxiety independently contributed to gait impairments. RESULTS: During ST, PD patients with anxiety presented significantly shorter stride length, lower gait velocity, longer stride time and stance time, longer stance phase, smaller toe-off (TO) and heel-strike (HS) angles than those without anxiety. While under DT status, the differences were diminished. Multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated that anxiety was an independent factor to a serials of gait parameters, particularly ST-TO (B = -2.599, (-4.82, -0.38)), ST-HS (B = -2.532, (-4.71, -0.35)), ST-TO-CV (B = 4.627, (1.71, 7.64)), ST-HS-CV(B = 4.597, (1.66, 7.53)), ST stance phase (B = 1.4, (0.22, 2.58)), and DT stance phase (B = 1.749, (0.56, 2.94)). CONCLUSION: Our study discovered that anxiety has a significant impact on gait impairments in PD patients, especially exacerbating shuffling steps and prolonging stance phase. These findings highlight the importance of addressing anxiety in PD precision therapy to achieve better treatment outcomes.

Long-term impact of a community-based adapted boxing program on physical functioning and quality of life of individuals with Parkinson's disease.

BACKGROUND: Adapted boxing can help improve the physical functioning and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD). Whether these benefits persist longitudinally is unclear. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the impact of a community-based adapted boxing program on the physical functioning and HRQoL of individuals with PD over 1-1.5 years. METHODS: Twenty-six individuals with PD agreed to share their results on tests administered upon enrollment in the program (PRE) and ∼431 days later (POST). The tests included the Fullerton Advanced Balance scale, (FAB), the Timed Up-and-Go test (TUG), the 30-second Sit-to-Stand test (30-STS), and the PD questionnaire-39 (PDQ-39). RESULTS: From PRE to POST, performance significantly improved on the TUG and 30-STS tests (both p < 0.001), but not on the FAB (p = 0.79). Over the same period, PDQ-39 scores significantly increased (p = 0.05). No PRE to POST changes surpassed the minimal detectable change threshold. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that adapted boxing is at worst non-detrimental and at best potentially beneficial for muscle strength, endurance, and functional mobility in individuals with PD. However, adapted boxing probably cannot fully counteract the HRQoL decrements that accompany PD progression.

Abnormal multisensory temporal discrimination in Parkinson's disease.

Cognitive deficits are prevalent in Parkinson's disease (PD), ranging from mild deficits in perception and executive function to severe dementia. Multisensory integration (MSI), the ability to pool information from different sensory modalities to form a combined, coherent perception of the environment, is known to be impaired in PD. This study investigated the disruption of audiovisual MSI in PD patients by evaluating temporal discrimination ability between auditory and visual stimuli with different stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). The experiment was conducted with Fifteen PD patients and fifteen age-matched healthy controls where participants were requested to report whether the audiovisual stimuli pairs were temporal simultaneous. The temporal binding window (TBW), the time during which sensory modalities are perceived as synchronous, was adapted as the comparison index between PD patients and healthy individuals. Our results showed that PD patients had a significantly wider TBW than healthy controls, indicating abnormal audiovisual temporal discrimination. Furthermore, PD patients had more difficulty in discriminating temporal asynchrony in visual-first, but not in auditory-first stimuli, compared to healthy controls. In contrast, no significant difference was observed for auditory-first stimuli. PD patients also had shorter reaction times than healthy controls regardless of stimulus priority. Together, our findings point to abnormal audiovisual temporal discrimination, a major component of MSI irregularity, in PD patients. These results have important implications for future models of MSI experiments and models that aim to uncover the underlying mechanism of MSI in patients afflicted with PD.

Using theory knitting to conceptualize social phenomena in the design and evaluation of dance programs for people living with Parkinson's disease.

Dance programs for people living with Parkinson's disease (PwPD) offer participants an opportunity to exercise, engage in artistic self-expression, and form new relationships. While it is understood that the social dimension of dance programs for PwPD contributes to dancer satisfaction and program sustainability, the social mechanisms instrumental to program success are under-examined. Engaging with theory from wider disciplines, or "theory knitting" can help program designers and evaluators examine the mechanisms and contextual factors that make classes socially meaningful with greater detail and specificity. This study identified and examined three theoretical frameworks that program planners and evaluators could use to conceptualize social engagement in dance for PwPD contexts and inform practice. Each theory was assessed for fit using the T-CaST theory comparison and selection tool developed by Birken et al. (2018). As an example, we used anthropologist Victor Turner's (1970; 1977) theory of liminality and communitas to identify five key areas for fostering a sense of social connection in dance for PwPD contexts: (1) selecting a meaningful dance space (2) creating a joyous atmosphere (3) marking entrance into the liminal time and space with rituals (4) embodying liminality and anti-structure and (5) inverting power relations and embracing fluid roles.

Association between Religiousness and Quality of Life among Patients in Brazil diagnosed with Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease.

The importance of religiousness in idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD) has been the subject of conflicting research. The impact of religiousness on quality of life and depressive symptoms has also been poorly studied in this population. This study investigated the correlation between religiousness and quality of life in patients with IPD. We evaluated 37 patients with IPD (according to the criteria of the Movement Disorders Society) who were from an outpatient clinic specializing in movement disorders in Brazil. We assessed the patients using the Duke University Religion Index and scales for motor impairment, cognition, quality of life, and depression. Spearman's test was used to check for possible correlations between the different dimensions of religiousness and the clinical variables analyzed. Patients with a worse quality of life and more depressive symptoms showed greater intrinsic religiousness.

An Exploration of People Living with Parkinson's Experience of Cardio-Drumming; Parkinson's Beats: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study.

Research has shown that physical activity has a range of benefits for people living with Parkinson's (PLwP), improving muscle strength, balance, flexibility, and walking, as well as non-motor symptoms such as mood. Parkinson's Beats is a form of cardio-drumming, specifically adapted for PLwP, and requires no previous experience nor skills. Nineteen PLwP (aged between 55 and 80) took part in the regular Parkinson's Beats sessions in-person or online. Focus group discussions took place after twelve weeks to understand the impacts of Parkinson's Beats. Through the framework analysis, six themes and fifteen subthemes were generated. Participants reported a range of benefits of cardio-drumming, including improved fitness and movement, positive mood, the flow experience, and enhanced social wellbeing. A few barriers to participation were also reported. Future research is justified, and best practice guidelines are needed to inform healthcare professionals, PLwP and their care givers.

[The role of the neuropsychologist in Parkinson's disease]. / Le rôle du psychologue spécialisé en neuropsychologie dans la maladie de Parkinson.

Psychologists specializing in neuropsychology, more commonly known as neuropsychologists, play an important role in the care of cognitive, behavioral and emotional aspects of patients with Parkinson's disease. They are also involved in research and public education on the disease.

Neuropsychiatric symptoms and brain morphology in patients with mild cognitive impairment, cerebrovascular disease and Parkinson disease: A cross sectional and longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVES: Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) increase risk of developing dementia and are linked to various neurodegenerative conditions, including mild cognitive impairment (MCI due to Alzheimer's disease [AD]), cerebrovascular disease (CVD), and Parkinson's disease (PD). We explored the structural neural correlates of NPS cross-sectionally and longitudinally across various neurodegenerative diagnoses. METHODS: The study included individuals with MCI due to AD, (n = 74), CVD (n = 143), and PD (n = 137) at baseline, and at 2-years follow-up (MCI due to AD, n = 37, CVD n = 103, and PD n = 84). We assessed the severity of NPS using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire. For brain structure we included cortical thickness and subcortical volume of predefined regions of interest associated with corticolimbic and frontal-executive circuits. RESULTS: Cross-sectional analysis revealed significant negative correlations between appetite with both circuits in the MCI and CVD groups, while apathy was associated with these circuits in both the MCI and PD groups. Longitudinally, changes in apathy scores in the MCI group were negatively linked to the changes of the frontal-executive circuit. In the CVD group, changes in agitation and nighttime behavior were negatively associated with the corticolimbic and frontal-executive circuits, respectively. In the PD group, changes in disinhibition and apathy were positively associated with the corticolimbic and frontal-executive circuits, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The observed correlations suggest that underlying pathological changes in the brain may contribute to alterations in neural activity associated with MBI. Notably, the difference between cross-sectional and longitudinal results indicates the necessity of conducting longitudinal studies for reproducible findings and drawing robust inferences.

A systematic review of the associations between sedentary behavior, physical inactivity, and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD), known for motor symptoms, often presents early non-motor issues that significantly affect patients' quality of life. While effective treatments are limited, physical activity and exercise offer potential benefits. However, an overlooked aspect of the movement intensity continuum is prolonged sitting or sedentary behavior, and physical inactivity. Thus, this study aimed to conduct a systematic review investigating the associations between sedentary behavior, physical inactivity, and non-motor symptoms, specifically cognitive impairment, depression, and poor sleep in PD. METHODS: Conforming to PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search of the literature was conducted via electronic databases including MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, PubMed and PsycINFO up to February 28, 2023. Studies were included if they investigated associations between sedentary behavior or physical inactivity and at least one non-motor symptom such as depression, poor sleep, and/or cognitive impairment, in adults aged 18 years or older with PD. Quality assessment of the studies was performed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale for cross-sectional and cohort studies. RESULTS: Of the 463 publications found, 7 studies met the inclusion criteria (n = 980 unique participants). Sample sizes ranged from 17 to 487 participants, and all studies were observational, conducted in home or community settings. Collectively, these studies show that higher amounts of both objectively-measured and self-reported sedentary time are associated with worse scores on standardized measures of cognition and the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ) summary index and its subscales, such as cognition (memory and concentration). Additionally, longitudinal cohort studies suggest that physical inactivity and higher sedentary behavior are associated with depression and cognitive impairment in PD. Less sleep was associated with higher sedentary behavior. CONCLUSION: Associations observed between physical inactivity, sedentary behavior, and non-motor symptoms in PD underscore the need to address these factors for enhanced well-being. Further well-designed studies are essential to assess the impact of reducing sedentary behavior and physical inactivity on non-motor symptoms in PD. Prospero registration number: PROSPERO (ID: CRD42023405422) on April 11, 2023.

Neuropsychiatric symptoms profile and markers of Alzheimer disease-type pathology in patients with Lewy body dementias.

BACKGROUND: To determine whether Lewy body dementia (LBD) patients with likely copathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) exhibit greater neuropsychiatric symptom (NPS) compared to those without likely AD-type copathology. METHODS: We enrolled 69 individuals diagnosed with Lewy body dementia (LBD), comprising both dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) (n = 36) and Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD) (n = 33). These participants had accessible cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) markers related to Alzheimer's disease (AD) and cognitive data. We assessed CSF levels of ß-amyloid 42 (Aß42), phosphorylated tau (p-tau), and total tau (t-tau). Employing autopsy-validated CSF thresholds (t-tau/Aß42 ratio > 0.3, n = 69), we categorized individuals into LBD with AD pathology (LBD + AD, n = 31) and LBD without apparent AD co-pathology (LBD - AD, n = 38). Moreover, the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD24), Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA14), and Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q) was used to assess the NPS. Spearman correlations were utilized to explore links between NPS and CSF marker profiles. RESULTS: In terms of neuropsychiatric symptoms, LBD + AD patients demonstrated notably elevated levels of depressive symptoms (HAMD24) in comparison to LBD - AD patients (P < 0.001). However, based on PDD and DLB groups, no significant variations were noted in the neuropsychiatric symptoms(P＞0.05). Moreover, CSF-derived biomarkers of Aß42, and t-tau/Aß42 were also associated with HAMD24 total scores in the LBD + AD subsample (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: There is an association between AD pathological markers and the NPS of LBD. The biologically based classification of LBD may be more advantageous in elucidating clinical heterogeneity than clinically defined syndromes.

Therapeutic Singing and Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract Exercises for Individuals with Parkinson's Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Single Session Intervention.

Individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) experience speech and voice-related symptoms that diminish communication and quality of life. Semi-occluded vocal tract (SOVT) exercises are targeted interventions that, when combined with the positive psychosocial benefits of therapeutic group singing (TGS), may affect outcomes. The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of SOVT exercises, specifically straw phonation combined with TGS, to improve voice quality and mood for individuals with PD. We used a true experimental pretest-posttest between-subjects design (i.e., randomized controlled trial) facilitated by a board-certified music therapist. All participants (N = 27) were randomly assigned to one of three groups (a) straw phonation combined with TGS (SP + TGS, n = 10), (b) TGS (n = 10), and (c) speaking-only control group (n = 7). Participants completed voice recordings for acoustic measures and the Visual Analogue Mood Scale for mood analysis before and after a 30-min intervention. The results demonstrated significant improvement in voice quality evidenced by decreasing Acoustic Voice Quality Index scores following a single session for both SP + TGS and TGS intervention groups when compared to the control. Happiness scores improved in the experimental groups when compared to control. Although not statistically significant, participants in the experimental groups (SP + TGS, TGS) demonstrated better mean mood scores on happiness, anxiety, and angry when compared to control, indicating a positive psychological response to the singing interventions. Overall, this study indicated the effectiveness of SP + TGS and TGS as promising therapeutic interventions for voice quality and mood in individuals with PD.