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An Australian Community Study of Parkinson's Disease: 1. Disease Severity and Functional Disability.
Author(s) -
Katsikitis M.,
Davis A.,
Burrow D.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
australian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 0726-4240
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-6612.1996.tb00195.x
Subject(s) - parkinson's disease , disease , physical therapy , physical disability , alertness , medicine , physical examination , functional impairment , psychology , gerontology , psychiatry
Demographic, clinical and physical information was obtained from 200 volunteers who had Parkinson's disease (PD). The clinical history revealed minimal social and psychological impairment. Physical difficulties such as mobility and restless legs were reported as the most troublesome symptoms of PD. A disease severity score was calculated by the addition of the ratings from the physical examination to a scaled score obtained from afoot tapping exercise. Over half of the sample had disease severity scores which were less than or equal to the mean of the entire sample. Functional disability was measured by the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP) and the highest dysfunction scores were in the areas of recreation and pastimes, alertness behaviour, communication and home management. Functional disability was significantly positively correlated with age and duration of illness.