SAN DIEGO — Atypical Parkinson's disease took the most profound toll on patients' ability to carry out essential daily activities among six chronic neurologic disorders evaluated in a study of disability and quality of life.
Lisa M. Shulman, M.D., codirector of the Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, reported her results in poster form at the annual meeting of the American Neurological Association.
Significant variation was found in disability and quality of life scores among patients with essential tremor (n = 58), dystonia (n = 50), Parkinson's disease (n = 425), psychogenic movement disorders (n = 34), Alzheimer's disease (n = 17), and atypical Parkinsonism (n = 45).
All of the disorders significantly undermined physical quality of life, as measured by the SF-12v2 Health Survey, but atypical Parkinson's disease patients had the lowest scores by far, reported Dr. Shulman and associates from the university's department of neurology.
Just three of the disorders—Alzheimer's disease, psychogenic movement disorders, and atypical Parkinson's disease—showed reductions in mental health quality of life scores measured by the SF-12v2 survey.
Disability was assessed using the Older Americans Resources and Services scale, which includes activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) at a person's best and worst level of function. Atypical Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease had the greatest impact on all instrumental activities of daily living.
In general, neurodegenerative disorders (Parkinson's disease and atypical Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease) resulted in greater disability than disorders such as essential tremor and dystonia.