title: Nonmotor symptoms in a malaysian Parkinson's disease population.
abstract: Background. The nonmotor symptoms are important determinants of health and quality of life in Parkinson's disease but are not well recognized and addressed in clinical practice. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of nonmotor symptoms and their impact on quality of life in patients with Parkinson's disease. Methods. This was a cross-sectional study among patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease. Exclusion criteria were a Mini Mental State Examination score of <21/30. Prevalence of nonmotor symptoms was determined using the NMSQuest. The severity of nonmotor symptoms and the quality of life were assessed using validated disease-specific questionnaires (PDQ-39 and NMSS). Results. A total of 113 patients consisting of 60 males and 53 females were recruited. The median duration of illness was 5.0 (2.0-8.0) years. The prevalence rate of nonmotor symptoms in our cohort was 97.3%. The most common reported nonmotor symptom in our cohort was gastrointestinal (76.1%). We found that the severity of the nonmotor symptoms was associated with poorer quality of life scores (r s : 0.727, P < 0.001). Conclusions. Nonmotor symptoms were highly prevalent in our patients with Parkinson's disease and adversely affected the quality of life of our patients. In contrast to western studies, the most common nonmotor symptom is gastrointestinal. The possibility of an Asian diet playing a role in this observation requires further study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latif, Cheras, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Shahrul
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Azmin
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latif, Cheras, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Abdul Manaf
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Khairul Anuar
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latif, Cheras, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Hui Jan
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latif, Cheras, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Wan Yahya
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Nafisah
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latif, Cheras, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Azman Ali
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Raymond
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latif, Cheras, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Othman
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hanita
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latif, Cheras, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Shamsul Azhar
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latif, Cheras, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Mohamed Ibrahim
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Norlinah