Impact of motor features on non-motor symptoms in patients with de novo Parkinson's disease: Cognition, depression, anxiety, fatigue, and dysautonomia.

AIM: Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) present with both motor and non-motor symptoms, and understanding the interplay between these symptoms is crucial for individualized patient care. This study aims to investigate the relationship between motor features and non-motor symptoms in patients with de novo PD.

METHODS

A total of 105 patients were analyzed, focusing on motor subtypes or subscores and their impact on cognition, depression, anxiety, fatigue, and dysautonomia. We utilized the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale-part III (UPDRS-III) for motor assessment, and various validated scales for non-motor symptoms.

RESULTS

Compared with tremor-dominant (TD) patients, non-TD patients showed severe scores in fatigue and dysautonomia, but no difference in other non-motor symptoms, including global cognition, depression, and anxiety. Linear regression analysis revealed that the total motor score of UPDRS-III was negatively related to global cognition (β = -0.4454, P = 0.0121). As a post-hoc analysis, partial correlation analysis showed that rigidity and bradykinesia subscores were associated with global cognition (r = -0.3527, P = 0.0004; r = -0.2206, P = 0.0299, respectively), whereas the postural instability/gait difficulty subscore was associated with depression, anxiety, fatigue, and dysautonomia (r = 0.2181, P = 0.0319; r = 0.2371, P = 0.0194; r = 0.3659, P = 0.0002; r = 0.3968, P = 0.0001, respectively) but not with global cognition.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that motor features in the early stages of PD can serve as important indicators of non-motor symptoms, potentially guiding more personalized therapeutic approaches. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2025; 25: 392-397.