Objective: The aim of our study was to determine the prevalence of dyspnea in a monocentric cohort of 153 non-demented PD patients (mean age: 63.9 ± 7.4 years old; mean disease duration: 9.2 ± 6.1 years), with no history of lung or heart diseases. Then, the clinical features of the dyspneic and non-dyspneic PD patients were assessed.

Background: Among the non-motor symptoms (NMS) associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD), dyspnea remains one of the less explored.

Methods: The following questions were asked to all the participants: “in the last month, did you suffer from breathlessness?” and “Did you experience difficulty to breath normally?” If the answer was positive for at least one among the two questions, dyspnea was confirmed. Patients with an abnormal cardiovascular and pulmonary clinical examination were excluded.

Results: In our cohort, the prevalence of dyspnea was 39.2% (31.5-47). Adjusted for disease duration, PD patients with dyspnea had a significant higher Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale I (p<0.001), II (p<0.001), III (p<0.001) and IV (p<0.001) scores, a significant lower Montréal Cognitive Assessment (p<0.001) and a higher 8-item Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire (p<0.001). Other NMS had a strong associations with dyspnea: cognitive impairment (OR, 7.5; 95% CI [3.9-14.6]), fatigue (OR 6.16; 95% CI [3.30;11.51]) and constipation problems (OR, 4.2; 95% CI [2.4-7.3]).

Conclusions: Dyspnea seems to be a frequent NMS in PD with an impact on autonomy and quality of life. Further studies are needed to assess the potential correlation with objective alteration in lung volumes, respiratory muscles strength or response to hypoxia.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/dyspnea-in-parkinsons-disease-a-biomarker-of-diseases-severity/