title: Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale characteristics and structure. The Cooperative Multicentric Group.
abstract: Our purpose was to verify some basic aspects of validation of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). One hundred and sixty-seven Parkinson's disease (PD) patients were included. Group A (n = 40) was simultaneously assessed by five raters who applied the UPDRS and other PD rating scales (PDRS). A set of timed tests, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and the Hamilton Scale for Depression (HSD) were administered by an independent examiner. Group B (n = 127) was individually assessed through the UPDRS and the other PDRSs by one neurologist in four different hospitals. The UPDRS was administered in 16.95 +/- 7.98 min. The internal consistency was high (Cronbach's alpha = 0.96). Nevertheless, the items related to depression, motivation/initiative, and tremor were scarcely consistent. The Interrater reliability was satisfactory (all the items had k > 0.40). There was a high correlation of the UPDRS with the Hoehn and Yahr staging (rs = 0.71; p < 0.001) and some timed tests (finger tapping; arising from chair), but also with the MMSE and HSD (rs = 0.53; rs = 0.64; p < 0.001). The convergent validity with the other PDRS (Intermediate Scale and Schwab and England Scale) was very high (rs = 0.76-0.96; p < 0.001). The factor analysis identified six factors that explained 59.6% of the variance. The dimension "tremor" showed a remarkable independence. The UPDRS is a multidimensional, reliable, and valid scale, with some inconveniences derived from its internal consistency, discriminant validity, and pragmatic application.
authors.affiliation: Section of Neurology, Hospital Universitario de Getafe, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Martínez-Martín
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gil-Nagel
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Gracia
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Gómez
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martínez-Sarriés
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bermejo
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000145:classification; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D009460:Neurologic Examination / Q000145:classification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015588:Observer Variation; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results