Objective: Our aim is to study the prevalence of cognitive impairment (CI) in a diverse group of people with Parkinson’s disease (PwP) from East London, UK and Dhaka, Bangladesh. This study also aims to compare standard cognitive instruments with newer alternatives in screening for CI in PwP of different ethnicities.

Background: Cognitive impairment (CI) is a common non-motor feature of Parkinson’s disease (PD) with an overall prevalence of 25-30% at diagnosis [1]. Some studies showed prevalence of PD related dementia (PDD) may be higher in certain ethnic groups, but research, particularly in South Asian countries like Bangladesh, is currently lacking [2].

Method: London-Dhaka Parkinson’s Cognition Study (LDCS) is a case-control study. Patients with a diagnosis of PD and healthy controls are being recruited from movement disorder clinics at Barts Health NHS Trust, UK and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Dhaka, Bangladesh. In each centre, we aim to recruit at least 200 new cases and 100 controls over 2 years. Data collection includes clinical and demographic information, questionnaires ((MDS-UPDRS, Hoehn & Yahr, SCOPA-Motor, NMSS, CISI-PD, PDSS 2, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, RBDSQ, EQ-5D health-related quality of life, Freezing of Gait Questionnaire, WOQ-9, BRAIN test, and a 6-item smell test based on the UPSIT), CI assessment tools (MoCA, RUDAS, CDR-SOB, Cats and dogs, Noise pareidolia test, degraded speech), neuropsychiatric assessment scales (NPI-Q, QUIP, HADS) and biomarker samples (blood, saliva).

Results: In Bangladesh since January 2023, 17  PwP and 5 healthy controls have been recruited. The mean age (±SD) of PwP  is 59 (±9.03) years, and 13 patients were male. Mean MoCA scores for PwP was 14.65 (out of 30).

Conclusion: Studying CI in under-represented groups of PwP will contribute to our overall understanding of PDD. It will also help to build an increasing trend of representation of this group in PD research including treatment differences, genetics, and clinical trials.

References: 1. Aarsland D, Batzu L, Halliday GM, et al. Parkinson disease-associated cognitive impairment. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2021;7(1):47.
2. Ben-Joseph A, Marshall CR, Lees AJ, Noyce AJ. Ethnic Variation in the Manifestation of Parkinson’s Disease: A Narrative Review. J Parkinsons Dis. 2020;10(1):31-45.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/london-dhaka-parkinsons-cognition-study-a-collaboration-to-evaluate-cognitive-impairment-in-under-represented-parkinsons-disease-patients/