Objective: To determine prevalence of non-motor symptoms (NMS) using the NMS Questionnaire (NMSQuest) and its relationship with plasma uric acid (UA) levels among Parkinson’s Disease patients. Other objectives were to relate NMS with disease duration and motor severity.

Background: Non-motor symptoms are key components of Parkinson’s disease (PD) unreported by patients and overlooked by clinicians. They adversely impair quality of life. While the relationship between plasma UA, a natural antioxidant and motor symptom has been well described, the relationship with NMS has not been well studied particularly in Africa.

Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study of 60 consecutive PD patients attending National hospital Abuja, Nigeria. NMSQuest was completed by the patients/caregiver and divided into nine domains (digestive, urinary, attention and memory, hallucination/delusion, anxiety/depression, sexual, cardiovascular, sleep and miscellaneous). The patients underwent clinical evaluation. Analysis was done using logistic regression analysis and Spearman rank correlation.

Results: The mean age of patients studied was 61.18 ± 8.53years. Male to female ratio was 3.3: 1. Mean total NMS (NMSQuest-T) was 7.13±5.21 (0-22). Only one of the patients reported no NMS. Forty-three reported unexplained pain while none reported bowel incontinence. Urinary domain was the most prevalent (35.83%) while Sexual domain (5%) was the least. Univariate analysis suggested an inverse relationship between UA levels and odds of digestive (p=0.002, OR=0.42), and cardiovascular (p=0.004, OR=0.36) domains. In an adjusted model only urinary domain was associated with UA levels (p=0.039, aOR=5.2). UA levels showed significant negative correlation with NMSQuest-T (p=0.003, R=-0.373). There was a statistically significant positive correlation between NMSQuest-T and both H&Y (Rs=0.618, p<0.001) and UPDRS III (Rs=0.457, p<0.001). However, disease duration showed a non-statistically significant correlation with NMSQuest (Rs=0.465, p=0.096).

Conclusions: Prevalence of NMS is relatively high and NMSQuest-T correlated with disease severity but not duration. Lower UA levels was associated with higher NMSQuest-T and especially cardiovascular and digestive domains, while higher UA levels was associated with higher score on urinary domains. Plasma UA may be a valuable biomarker for NMS but further studies are needed.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/prevalence-and-relationship-of-non-motor-symptoms-of-parkinsons-disease-with-plasma-uric-levels/