Oro-buccal symptoms (dysphagia, dysarthria, and sialorrhea) in patients with Parkinson's disease: preliminary analysis from the French COPARK cohort.

INTRODUCTION

Abnormal oro-buccal functions including dysarthria, sialorrhea and dysphagia commonly affect patients with Parkinson's disease (PD).

OBJECTIVES

To estimate the prevalence of such oro-buccal symptoms at baseline in the first 419 patients with PD included in the COPARK cohort and to analyze their correlations with patients' demographics, clinical characteristics, and drugs consumption.

METHODS

Patients were assessed using the Unified PD Rating Scale, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the PDQ-39. Dysarthria, sialorrhea, and dysphagia were defined as UPDRS items 5, 6, or 7 ≥ 1.

RESULTS

Dysarthria, sialorrhea, or dysphagia were present in 51%, 37%, or 18% out of the 419 patients, respectively. At least one of these symptom was present in 267/419 patients (65%), whilst a combination of symptoms was present in 136/419 (33%). Logistic regression showed that the presence of each of the three oro-buccal symptoms was significantly correlated with that of the two others. Other correlations included male gender, hallucinations, disease severity, levodopa use and lack of opiates consumption for dysarthria; disease severity, orthostatic hypotension and absence of antidepressants consumption for sialorrhea; female gender, motor fluctuations, and depressive symptoms for dysphagia. None of the three oro-buccal symptoms were associated with a reduced PDQ-39 score.

CONCLUSION

Oro-buccal symptoms were present in two of three patients with moderate PD, the presence of each symptoms being significantly correlated with that of the two others.