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Introduction: It is important to understand how the rate of motor progression in PD relates to dopaminergic treatment.

Methods: The methods for this study comprised prospective defined off state measurements of the levodopa response at 3-year intervals over a mean 13.3-year period in 34 patients enrolled before treatment initiation.

Results: Despite worsening of on and off scores, the magnitude of the l-dopa short-duration response is maintained as the disease progresses. A linear mixed-effects regression analysis of off phase motor scores showed a yearly deterioration of 2.3% of the maximum disability score. Greater motor disability at the commencement of treatment was an independent predictor of faster progression. Demented patients had worse motor function than those without dementia (P = 0.02), and motor deficit appeared to accelerate toward the end of the disease course in patients who had died.

Conclusions: These observations should inform clinical trial design for drugs with possible neuroprotective properties.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	Parkinson's disease, dementia, levodopa, natural history
Research Division:	Biomedical and Clinical Sciences
Research Group:	Neurosciences
Research Field:	Neurology and neuromuscular diseases
Objective Division:	Health
Objective Group:	Clinical health
Objective Field:	Clinical health not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Alty, JE (Associate Professor Jane Alty)
UTAS Author:	Srikanth, V (Dr Velandai Srikanth)
ID Code:	108782
Year Published:	2016
Web of Science® Times Cited:	8
Deposited By:	Menzies Institute for Medical Research
Deposited On:	2016-05-05
Last Modified:	2022-08-29
Downloads:	16 View Download Statistics