title: Comparison of a timed motor test battery to the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale-III in Parkinson's disease.
abstract: The most widely used scale currently available for the clinical evaluation of motor dysfunction in Parkinson's disease (PD)-the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale-III (UPDRS-III) -is time-consuming, subjective, and has suboptimal sensitivity. A brief timed motor test (TMT) battery could possibly overcome these drawbacks. Two hundred eighty-eight PD patients (disease duration 3.1 years; preceding dopaminergic treatment initiation) were assessed with the UPDRS-III and nine TMTs based on aspects of (a) walking, (b) writing, (c) single and double-handed pegboard performance, (d) finger tapping, and (e) rapid alternating forearm movements. We investigated validity, reliability, responsiveness, and feasibility. Completing the TMT battery took less than 5 minutes. The TMT correlated well with UPDRS-III and disease duration. Two factors explained 61% of the TMT variance, the first represented mainly upper extremity function, the second mainly axial/lower extremity function. Cronbach's alpha was equal for the TMT and the UPDRS-III (0.8). Test-retest reliability of the TMT sumscore was 0.93 to 0.89 for measurements separated by 3 up to 24 months, whereas UPDRS-III correlations were 0.88 to 0.84. At group level, a trial using "change from baseline" as endpoint requires only 75% of the patients needed with the UPDRS-III when applying the TMT battery, and 57% using the pegboard dexterity test. At patient level, TMT and UPDRS-III were equally responsive. The TMT battery described here is valid, reliable, and feasible. Compared to the UPDRS-III, it is more objective and more sensitive to change. Therefore, it could be a useful tool for both practical and scientific purposes. (c) 2008 Movement Disorder Society.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Charlotte A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Haaxma
authors.forename: Bastiaan R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Bloem
authors.forename: George F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Borm
authors.forename: Martin W I M
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Horstink
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon; D014326:Tropanes; D016138:Walking
chemical_list: D014326:Tropanes; C087552:2-carbomethoxy-8-(3-fluoropropyl)-3-(4-iodophenyl)tropane