title: Physical assessment as a predictor of mortality in people with Parkinson's disease: a study over 7 years.
abstract: The primary aim of this study was to ascertain whether a battery of physical function measures in a Parkinson's disease (PD) patient cohort predicted mortality status at 7-year follow-up. Secondary aims were establishing which specific tests were the most useful, and whether PD phenotype was a predictor. A retrospective correlation design was used in this study. A cohort of 109 PD patients underwent baseline physiotherapy assessment of gait, balance, posture, muscle strength, and ability to change postural set. We compared mortality status at 7-year follow-up and baseline physical assessment tests. Tinetti gait and balance scores, UPDRS score, 10-m walk test (time, velocity, and number of strides), posture in standing, lying to sitting, sitting to standing, getting up from floor assessments, and time to ascend and descend four steps were found to be statistically significant physical predictors of mortality at 7-year follow-up. In addition, age, sex, and mini-mental state examination were significant nonphysical predictors of mortality. Using Cox regression, a survival model was constructed with age, sex, and Tinetti gait score as independent predictors of mortality. The results of this study suggest that there is a link between reduced physical function and an increased mortality risk in PD populations.
authors: School of Health, Community and Education Studies, University of Northumbria, Coach Lane Campus, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE29 8NH , United Kingdom.
authors: William K
authors: WK
authors: Gray
authors: Anthony
authors: A
authors: Hildreth
authors: Julie A
authors: JA
authors: Bilclough
authors: Brian H
authors: BH
authors: Wood
authors: Katherine
authors: K
authors: Baker
authors: Richard W
authors: RW
authors: Walker
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology; D009460:Neurologic Examination / Q000379:methods; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000401:mortality* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013223:Statistics as Topic