Can fatigue predict walking capacity of patients with Parkinson’s disease?

• Autor(a) principal: CARVALHO,Davi Vilela
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: SANTOS,Renata Maria Silva, MAGALHÃES,Helen Cardoso de, SOUZA,Mariana Soares de, CHRISTO,Paulo Pereira, ALMEIDA-LEITE,Camila Megale de, SCALZO,Paula Luciana
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0004-282X2020000200070
• topic: Parkinson’s disease; fatigue; mobility; gait speed; walking capacity

ABSTRACT Although fatigue is an expressive symptom of Parkinson’s disease (PD), few studies have investigated the association between fatigue, mobility and walking capacity of these patients. Objective: To investigate whether fatigue is an independent factor associated with mobility and the walking capacity in patients with PD. Methods: Forty-eight patients with PD (22 with fatigue) were tested for mobility and their walking capacity: Timed Up and Go (TUG), 10-Meter Walk Test (10MWT) at usual and fastest speed, and 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT). Fatigue was measured with Parkinson’s Fatigue Scale (PFS-16). Linear regression analysis was used to investigate if fatigue is an independent factor contributing to variance in mobility and walking capacity. Results: There was a positive correlation between PFS-16 and TUG (rs=0.385; p=0.007). There was a negative correlation between PFS-16 and 10MWT at comfortable (r=-0.385; p=0.007) and fast speeds (r=-0.396; p=0.005), and 6MWT (r=-0.472; p=0.001). Linear regression analysis revealed that fatigue did not explain the variance of TUG and 10MWT. PFS-16, age and section III of UPDRS explained 49.6% (adjusted R2; p<0.001) variance in the 6MWT, and fatigue was the most significant predictor (F=-32.1; p=0.022). Conclusions: Fatigue is an independent factor contributing to the distance covered during 6MWT in patients with PD. Our results highlight the importance of recognition and management of this symptom.