Parkinson disease: do we need to improve treatment strategies that focus on nonmotor complications such as pain?

Abstract

This Practice Point commentary discusses the findings and limitations of a cross-sectional survey by Nègre-Pagès et al. that investigated the prevalence of pain in a large number of patients with Parkinson disease (PD). The authors used a validated definition of chronic pain and included an age-matched and sex-matched control group. The study showed that chronic pain is a frequent but underreported symptom in PD, suggesting that awareness of this problem should be increased. This commentary highlights the issues to consider when interpreting these results, including the use of self-reported questionnaires and the classification of PD-associated pain. Overall, the findings indicate that interventions in patients with PD should go beyond the treatment of motor symptoms only and also target nonmotor symptoms; in particular, the treatment of pain needs to be improved.