A cross-sectional study investigating clinical predictors and physical experiences of pain in Parkinson's disease.

A cross-sectional study investigating clinical predictors and physical experiences of pain in Parkinson's disease. Funct Neurol. 2013 Oct-Dec;28(4):297-304 Authors: Rana A, Saeed U, Masroor MS, Yousuf MS, Siddiqui I Abstract Pain is a non-motor symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD) that is often neglected due to its high prevalence in both the PD and the normal elderly population. The aims of this cross-sectional study were to establish the prevalence of pain, investigate its clinical predictors and analyze physical experiences of pain as described by PD patients. A total of 121 patients diagnosed with PD were included. The patients underwent a neurological examination and a structured interview and completed questionnaires focusing on clinical types and physical experiences of pain. Logistic regressions were used to analyze possible predictors. Pain was reported by 80 (66%) patients with a mean age at PD diagnosis of 67.26±11.43 years. The most common clinical types of pain experienced by the patients were dystonic pain (48%), paresthesia/neuropathic pain (36%) and musculoskeletal pain (28%). The PD patients described their physical experience of pain as aching (46%), a feeling of tension (18%), sharp pain (12%), deep pain (12%) and dull pain (11%). Patients with PD affecting the right side of the body were four times more likely to report pain on the right side of the body; however, no such relation was found for the left side of th...
Source: Functional Neurology - Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research