International multicenter pilot study of the first comprehensive self‐completed nonmotor symptoms questionnaire for Parkinson's disease: The NMSQuest study

Abstract

Nonmotor symptoms (NMS) of Parkinson's disease (PD) are not well recognized in clinical practice, either in primary or in secondary care, and are frequently missed during routine consultations. There is no single instrument (questionnaire or scale) that enables a comprehensive assessment of the range of NMS in PD both for the identification of problems and for the measurement of outcome. Against this background, a multidisciplinary group of experts, including patient group representatives, has developed an NMS screening questionnaire comprising 30 items. This instrument does not provide an overall score of disability and is not a graded or rating instrument. Instead, it is a screening tool designed to draw attention to the presence of NMS and initiate further investigation. In this article, we present the results from an international pilot study assessing feasibility, validity, and acceptability of a nonmotor questionnaire (NMSQuest). Data from 123 PD patients and 96 controls were analyzed. NMS were highly significantly more prevalent in PD compared to controls (PD NMS, median = 9.0, mean = 9.5 vs. control NMS, median = 5.5, mean = 4.0; Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, and t test, P < 0.0001), with PD patients reporting at least 10 different NMS on average per patient. In PD, NMS were highly significantly more prevalent across all disease stages and the number of symptoms correlated significantly with advancing disease and duration of disease. Furthermore, frequently, problems such as diplopia, dribbling, apathy, blues, taste and smell problems were never previously disclosed to the health professionals.

Concerns About Falling in Parkinson’s Disease: Associations with Disabilities and Personal and Environmental Factors

“…Two dichotomous items on anxiety and orthostatism (no. 17 and 20) of the Nonmotor Symptoms Questionnaire (NMSQuest) [36] were also included. In addition, the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) [37] was administered as an interview.…”

Effects of Sleep Disorders on the Non-Motor Symptoms of Parkinson Disease

“…The Non-motor Symptoms Questionnaire (NMSQuest) 49 is a 30-item questionnaire that was completed by patients. The NMSQuest allows a brief yet comprehensive assessment of the non-motor features of PD, including neuropsychiatric, sleep, autonomic, gastrointestinal, sensory, and other disturbances.…”

Surgical management of movement disorders

“…These are mostly resistant to all surgical interventions and include cognitive impairment, mood disturbances, sleep disturbances and even autonomic disorders. [4] These non-motor symptoms often cause most dysfunction in previously high-performing individuals with PD. Care and support should therefore not be solely fixated on the movements or tremors, but a holistic multidisciplinary approach is essential.…”

“…in patients and the need for medication, and improve dyskinesia and motor function. [4] The ideal candidates for DBS are summarised in Table 2. The reason for waiting for 5 -6 years of symptomatic PD before considering DBS, is to allow ample time for excluding differential diagnoses such as other neurodegenerative diseases; also, most patients develop motor fluctuations and dyskinesias only after this time period.…”