Actigraphic Evidence for Night-Time Hyperkinesia in Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract

Parkinson's disease is a common motor disorder that not only leads to motor symptoms but also autonomic dysregulation, mental changes, sensory disturbances, and sleep disorders such as increased daytime sleepiness and sleep fragmentation. The aim of this study was to find out how the daytime and night-time motor activity levels in individuals without motor disorders differ from patients with Parkinson's disease. Daytime and night-time motor activity levels in 17 PD patients and 69 controls were measured for three consecutive days and nights via actigraphy, a method of continuous long-term assessment of activity levels. A ratio between night-time and daytime motor activity was calculated. PD patients had a 1.5-2-fold lower daytime motor activity but also showed 1.5-2-fold higher motor activity at night time. Older controls showed a lower daytime but similar night-time motor activity when compared to younger controls. A ratio of night-time to daytime motor activity could clearly distinguish controls and patients. The possibility to distinguish patients and controls by the ratio of night-time to daytime motor activity is worth further investigation.

Accelerometer-based quantitative analysis of axial nocturnal movements differentiates patients with Parkinson's disease, but not high-risk individuals, from controls

“…A lower frequency of turning-over events in bed in patients with PD was also reported by Laihinen and colleagues 25. By contrast, elevated nocturnal activity level and an increased proportion of time with movement have been reported in PD as well 23 24. The latter findings are based on the quantification of an activity level.…”

Sleep Patterns in Parkinson's Disease Patients with Visual Hallucinations

“…Previous studies have placed the accuracy of actigraphy at 0.85 agreement with polysomnography, a value which was within the acceptable range for longitudinal data collection (Wright et al, 2000). In addition, many studies have now shown that actigraphy is an appropriate method for measuring sleep quality in PD (Nass & Nass, 2008;Perez-Lloret et al, 2009;Stavitsky, Saurman, McNamara, & Cronin-Golomb, 2010). Although parkinsonian daytime tremor (Hoehn & Yahr, 1967) 2.0 (.70) 1.8 (.62) -…”

Feasibility of Clinical Hypnosis For The Treatment of Parkinson's Disease:A Case Study

“…Schlesinger et al (2009) have shown that actigraphy is a reliable method for measuring fluctuations in rest tremor severity during a mind-body intervention. Nass and Nass (2008) have also shown that actigraphy can be used to differentiate Parkinson’s patients from healthy controls.…”