title: Do nonmotor symptoms in Parkinson's disease differ from normal aging?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nonmotor symptoms in Parkinson's disease are frequent and affect health-related quality of life of patients. The severity and domains of nonmotor symptoms involved in Parkinson's disease and normal aging have not been compared before.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a prospective case-control study to assess the frequency and severity of nonmotor symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease (n = 174) and age-matched normal controls (n = 128) using the Non-Motor Symptoms Scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nonmotor symptoms in Parkinson's disease were ubiquitous, more frequent, and more severe than in normal aging, particularly in women. Cardiovascular, mood/cognition, and perceptual problems/hallucinations domains were rarely involved in age-matched controls. Age had no effect and sex some influence on nonmotor symptoms in Parkinson's disease. In contrast, in controls, nonmotor symptoms increased with age, and sex had no effect.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nonmotor symptoms in Parkinson's disease differ from those in aging in frequency, severity, sex predilection, and domain involvement.
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Care Centre for Movement Disorders, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: Syam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krishnan
authors.forename: Gangadhara
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sarma
authors.forename: Sankara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarma
authors.forename: Asha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kishore
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D013223:Statistics as Topic