REM sleep behavior disorder and motor dysfunction in Parkinson's disease--a longitudinal study.
OBJECTIVE
Longitudinal assessment of a Parkinson's disease (PD) cohort, to investigate the evolution or REM sleep behavior symptoms (RBD) over time and to test the relation between RBD at onset and motor dysfunction progression.


METHODS
An early stage PD cohort (n = 61) was assessed at two time points, separated by a two years interval. Diagnostic criteria for RBD were: violent behavior during sleep and body movements or vocalization indicative of dream enacting and at least six affirmative answers in the REM sleep behavior disorder screening questionnaire. Motor function assessment was performed with the Unified Parkinson's Disease Scale part II and III (total and partial scores for tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity, gait/postural instability and dysarthria).


RESULTS
25 Patients had RBD at baseline, vs. 35 at follow-up. Three RBD changed to non-RBD at follow-up, while 10 non-RBD patients developed RBD at follow-up (annual incidence of 12.5%). RBD and non-RBD patients did not differ significantly at baseline or follow-up. The presence of RBD at baseline was significantly related to an increase in UPDRS total and bradykinesia scores over time.


CONCLUSIONS
RBD symptoms can vary over time and have a tendency to increase during the early stages of disease. The presence of RBD symptoms could be a risk factor for motor function deterioration and particularly for bradykinesia worsening.
Neurology Department Hospital de Egas Moniz (CHLO), Lisboa, Portugal; Departamento de Neurologia, CEDOC, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 1169-056 Lisbon, Portugal. Electronic address: paulobugalho@sapo.pt.
Paulo
P
Bugalho
Miguel
M
Viana-Baptista
D000368:Aged; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018476:Hypokinesia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications*; D015995:Prevalence; D020187:REM Sleep Behavior Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
Bradykinesia; Parkinson's disease; REM sleep behaviur disorder; Risk factor