Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the predictors of body weight loss in PD patients over years.

Background: Early body weight loss in parkinsonism has prognostic significance, and targeted interventions to prevent it may improve long-term outcomes. However, the evolution and determinants of body weight loss in Parkinson’s disease (PD) are not well established.

Method: We examined the percentage of body weight change over years among 152 newly diagnosed PD patients at baseline. Body weight were recorded both at baseline and follow-up visit. The Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y) stage and Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS) part III score were used to evaluate the severity of motor symptoms. The Montreal Cognitive Scale (MoCA), Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS) were used to assess the severity of non-motor symptoms. The change of body weight > 5% were considered as body weight loss.

Results: We included 68 men and 84 women, with a mean age of 57.0 ± 12.4 years and a mean duration of 2.3 ± 3.3 years. We collected data again 2.4 ± 1.0 years (range from 0.8 to 6.1 years) after the first visit. Thirty-four PD (22.4%) patients with body weight loss over the entire follow-up visit. Patients with body weight loss exhibited higher UPDRS part III score, higher H&Y score and lower MoCA score at baseline compared with those without body weigh loss (P<0.05). The body weights of PD patients at baseline were 59.3 ± 9.6 kg, while those at follow-up visit were 59.0 ± 9.8 kg. Univariate cox regression analysis indicated that age, disease duration, PD family history, freezing of gait and MoCA score were associated with the body weight loss in PD (P<0.05). In the multivariable analysis of COX model, disease duration (HR=0.316, 95%CI=0.207-0.515, P<0.001) and MoCA score (HR=0.921, 95%CI=0.873-0.973, P=0.003) were the independent prognostic risk factors for body weight loss in PD.

Conclusion: Our study indicates that cognitive dysfunction can predict the body weight loss in patients with PD.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/cognitive-dysfunction-can-predict-the-body-weight-loss-in-patients-with-parkinsons-disease/