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. 2012 May;18(4):348-50.
doi: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2011.11.023. Epub 2011 Dec 16.

Short and valid assessment of apraxia in Parkinson's disease

T Vanbellingen  1 , C Lungu, G Lopez, F Baronti, R Müri, M Hallett, S Bohlhalter
Affiliations

Short and valid assessment of apraxia in Parkinson's disease

T Vanbellingen et al. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2012 May.

Abstract

Background: Valid assessment of apraxia in usually non-apraxic Parkinson's disease helps to delineate atypical parkinsonism frequently associated with apraxia. Furthermore, in a subgroup of late Parkinson's disease apraxia, typically the ideomotor subtype, may gradually superimpose onto parkinsonian motor symptoms contributing to defective manual skill. Here we evaluate the utility of a brief, standardized test, the apraxia screen of TULIA (AST).

Methods: Seventy five Parkinson's disease patients were tested with the AST. Parkinsonian motor deficits were measured using Movement Disorders Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) part III and difficulties in activities of daily living (ADL) by modified MDS-UPDRS part II (eating, dressing, personal hygiene, and writing).

Results: No association was found between the AST and MDS-UPDRS part III, indicating that AST discriminates well (discriminative validity) between apraxia and parkinsonism. Furthermore, AST was associated with ADL and Hoehn & Yahr stage (convergent validity).

Conclusions: AST is a short and valid test to rule out or detect apraxia in Parkinson's disease.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Frequencies of mild apraxia in percentage with corresponding H&Y staging of PD patients
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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