January/February 2012
García-Ruiz PJ, Del Val J, Fernández IM, Herranz
A
The causes and mechanism behind motor complications in
Parkinson disease (PD) are still a subject of debate. Several factors
including age at onset, evolution in years, and initial medication can
influence the onset and severity of motor complications in PD.
We studied patients with recent diagnosis of PD who were
followed up prospectively for 10 years. Analysis included the
progression of these patients, as measured by the Unified Parkinson
Disease Rating Scale scores and the presence of motor complications
(motors fluctuations, dyskinesias, and gait freezing) over time. The
patient group was studied as a whole and by subgroups classified
according to age at onset, initial treatment, and sex.
By the end of the first decade, most patients exhibited
dyskinesias (91%), motor fluctuations (62%), and freezing of gait (68%).
An association was found between several patients' characteristics and
presence of motor complications by 5 years, though not after 10 years of
follow up. The apparition of motor fluctuations was mainly related to
initial treatment (odds ratio [OR], 3.87). The development of
dyskinesias was linked to initial treatment (OR, 8.31), age at onset
(OR, 0.90), and sex (OR, 12.87).
