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. 2019 Apr;9(4):e01244.
doi: 10.1002/brb3.1244. Epub 2019 Mar 9.

Clinical features of freezing of gait in Parkinson's disease patients

Makoto Sawada  1   2 , Kenji Wada-Isoe  2 , Ritsuko Hanajima  2 , Kenji Nakashima  3
Affiliations

Clinical features of freezing of gait in Parkinson's disease patients

Makoto Sawada et al. Brain Behav. 2019 Apr.

Abstract

Objective: To clarify the clinical features of freezing of gait (FOG) in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients by classification into two groups: Clinically observed FOG (CFOG) and self-reported FOG (SFOG).

Methods: Two hundred twenty-nine PD patients were medically examined in an examination room as well as subjected to a New Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (NFOG-Q) and analysis of nonmotor symptoms including sleep, cognition, depression, and fatigue.

Results: The prevalence of CFOG was 17.9%, while 53.7% of the patients without CFOG reported the presence of FOG via the NFOG-Q. Univariate analysis revealed that CFOG was associated with longer disease duration, motor dysfunction, sleepiness, fatigue, and cognitive dysfunction. These symptoms, excluding akinesia, apathy, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep Behavior Disorder, and cognitive dysfunction, were also associated with SFOG. Multivariate analysis revealed that long PD duration, postural instability, and gait difficulty (PIGD), along with fatigue, were independent factors for SFOG.

Conclusions: SFOG and CFOG have many common clinical features. Although the clinical relevance of SFOG remains unclear, careful attention should be paid to related features in clinical practice.

Keywords: fatigue; new freezing of gait questionnaire; postural instability and gait difficulty.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Walking route for examining clinically observed freezing of gait
Figure 2
Figure 2
Classification of freezing of gait (FOG) in Parkinson's disease patients
Figure 3
Figure 3
Nonfreezing and SFOG and CFOG ratio according to postural instability and gait difficulty (a) and Parkinson Fatigue Scale (b) severity. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01. FOG: freezing of gait; SFOG: self‐reported FOG; CFOG: clinically observed FOG
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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