NON-MOTOR SYMPTOMS IN PARKINSON'S DISEASE

Introduction- Non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease are often under recognized. The patients may manifest non-motor symptoms belonging to cognitive, psychiatric, autonomic, sleep and sensory domains. The non-motor symptoms questionnaire is a 30 point questionnaire that allows patients to report non-motor symptoms. The NMS questionnaire analyses the presence or absence of 30 non-motor symptoms and awards a score of 1 out of 30 for the presence of each symptom. Aims and Objectives - To determine the prevalence of non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease and the time of occurrence of non-motor symptoms in relation to motor symptoms.Methods - This was an observational cross sectional study. The NMS questionnaire was used to collect data from 30 Parkinson's patients.Results - The mean total non-motor symptoms score was 5.7 ranging from 0-17 of a maximum of 30. At least one symptom was present in 93.3 percentage of the patients. Dizziness was the most common symptom followed by memory loss and anxiety. A progressive increase in the mean total score of non-motor symptoms was observed with increasing severity of the disease . 33 percentage of Parkinson's patients had onset of sensory symptoms before the occurrence of motor symptoms . The most common sensory symptoms to precede motor symptoms were unexplained pains followed by restless legs and sleeplessness.Conclusion - The non-motor symptoms are highly prevalent in Parkinson's patients and they may precede the onset of motor symptoms in one third of patients. So the non-motor symptoms should be sought for and addressed.