Objective: The aims of this study were to verify the correlation between fatigue and balance in individuals with PD; to compare balance in individuals with PD that presents low fatigue or high fatigue.

Background: Fatigue is a disabling symptom in the spectrum of Parkinson’s disease (PD), affecting from 30% to 70% of the patients ^1,2. Even though there is a solid body of evidence associating fatigue with the other non-motor symptoms of PD previously mentioned, there is a lack of studies correlating fatigue with motor symptoms.

Method: This study included 37 individuals with PD, who were divided in two groups: low fatigue (n=25) and high fatigue (n=12). Fatigue was evaluated using the Parkinson’s disease Fatigue Scale and a force platform was used to asses four balance tasks: bipedal, tandem with open eyes, closed eyes and tandem with dual task, in three parameters: (1) 95% confidence ellipse area of center of pressure (COP) (2) mean velocity (3) root mean square amplitude of COP. To verify the correlation between fatigue and balance, the Spearman rank order correlation coefficient was assessed. Comparison of medians between the groups were analyzed using Mann-Whitney test.

Results: This study’s results show no correlation between fatigue and posture control [table 1], and also no significant differences were found between individuals classified under the “low fatigue” and “high fatigue” categories, in terms of the three balance parameters assessed: A-COP [table 2]; MVeloc [table 3] and RMS AP and ML [table 4]

Conclusion: This study’s findings, together with those reported in the literature, suggest there is no correlation between fatigue and balance, and even though individuals with PD report fatigue or experience situations of fatigue, they do not present greater posture instability than individuals with PD who do not report fatigue.

References: 1. Chong R, Albor L, Wakade C, Morgan J. The dimensionality of fatigue in Parkinson’s disease. J Transl Med. 2018;16(1):1-7. doi:10.1186/s12967-018-1554-z 2. Siciliano M, Trojano L, De Micco R, et al. Motor, behavioural, and cognitive correlates of fatigue in early, de novo Parkinson disease patients. Park Relat Disord. 2017;45:63-68. doi:10.1016/j.parkreldis.2017.10.004

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