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NEW YORK – There are numerous clinical factors and objective tools for identifying patients with Parkinson’s disease who have an increased risk of falls, according to data from a prospective study and an overview of this topic that was presented at the International Conference on Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders
“Identifying risk of falls, which can produce complications beyond the acute injury, is one of the most important unmet needs in Parkinson’s disease,” reported A.V. Srinivasan, MD, PhD, DSc, of the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medial University, Chennai, India.
Falls pose a risk of complications beyond acute injury because of the potential domino effect, according to Dr. Srinivasan. He maintained that when aging Parkinson’s disease patients are confined to bed for an extended period of recovery, a host of adverse health consequences can follow, including such life-threatening events as aspiration pneumonia.
“A serious fall can be the start of a downward clinical slope,” according to Dr. Srinivasan, who cited data suggesting that 40%-70% of Parkinson’s disease patients will have a serious fall at advanced stages of disease.
To identify those at greatest risk, a number of objective studies were shown to be useful in a study undertaken at the Institute of Neurology of Madras (India) Medical College, according to Dr. Srinivasan, where he was a professor when the study was conducted. In this study, 112 patients were evaluated with more than 15 months of follow-up. The 57 (51%) who experienced a fall were compared with the 55 who did not.
Between these groups, there was no difference in mean age (approximately 57 years in both) or in gender (approximately 70% male in both), according to Dr. Srinivasan. However, those who fell were significantly more likely to be obese (P = .009), to be on two or more anti-Parkinson’s medication (P = .01), and to be hypertensive (P = .018). Disease duration was significantly longer and disease severity significantly greater in those who fell relative to those who did not, according to Dr. Srinivasan.
However, Dr. Srinivasan placed particular emphasis on the objective studies that predicted risk of falls.
“When we compared baseline characteristics, Tinetti balance score, episodes of freezing gait, and the Get-Up-And-Go Test [GAGT], were all significant predictors of falls [all P less than .001],” Dr. Srinivasan said.
Of clinical studies, he suggested that GAGT is particularly simple and helpful. In GAGT, the time for a patient to rise from a chair, walk 10 feet, and return to their original sitting position, is timed. According to Dr. Srinivasan, an interval of 12 seconds or greater is a measure of impaired mobility and a signal for increased risk of falls.
Other patient characteristics or disease features that predicted increased risk of falls included the presence of dyskinesias and treatment with relatively high doses of levodopa. All of these factors should be considered when conducting a comprehensive risk assessment.
“A formal evaluation should be conducted routinely in all patients because there are a number of simple and effective strategies to reduce falls in patients at high risk,” Dr. Srinivasan said. These include teaching patients to avoid abrupt movements and modifying therapies to avoid gait freezing and other symptoms associated with falls. He cited a 2014 review article by Canning et al. (Neurodegen Dis Manag. 2014;4:203-21) as one source of clinically useful approaches.
“Early prevention is important. One of the most significant risks of falls is a previous fall. Control of disease symptoms lowers risk, but motor symptoms are not the only concern,” Dr. Srinivasan said. He suggested nonmotor issues, including inadequate sleep, impaired cognitive function, and attention deficits, can all be addressed in order to prevent falls and the risks they pose to quality of life and outcome.
NEW YORK – There are numerous clinical factors and objective tools for identifying patients with Parkinson’s disease who have an increased risk of falls, according to data from a prospective study and an overview of this topic that was presented at the International Conference on Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders
“Identifying risk of falls, which can produce complications beyond the acute injury, is one of the most important unmet needs in Parkinson’s disease,” reported A.V. Srinivasan, MD, PhD, DSc, of the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medial University, Chennai, India.
Falls pose a risk of complications beyond acute injury because of the potential domino effect, according to Dr. Srinivasan. He maintained that when aging Parkinson’s disease patients are confined to bed for an extended period of recovery, a host of adverse health consequences can follow, including such life-threatening events as aspiration pneumonia.
“A serious fall can be the start of a downward clinical slope,” according to Dr. Srinivasan, who cited data suggesting that 40%-70% of Parkinson’s disease patients will have a serious fall at advanced stages of disease.
To identify those at greatest risk, a number of objective studies were shown to be useful in a study undertaken at the Institute of Neurology of Madras (India) Medical College, according to Dr. Srinivasan, where he was a professor when the study was conducted. In this study, 112 patients were evaluated with more than 15 months of follow-up. The 57 (51%) who experienced a fall were compared with the 55 who did not.
Between these groups, there was no difference in mean age (approximately 57 years in both) or in gender (approximately 70% male in both), according to Dr. Srinivasan. However, those who fell were significantly more likely to be obese (P = .009), to be on two or more anti-Parkinson’s medication (P = .01), and to be hypertensive (P = .018). Disease duration was significantly longer and disease severity significantly greater in those who fell relative to those who did not, according to Dr. Srinivasan.
However, Dr. Srinivasan placed particular emphasis on the objective studies that predicted risk of falls.
“When we compared baseline characteristics, Tinetti balance score, episodes of freezing gait, and the Get-Up-And-Go Test [GAGT], were all significant predictors of falls [all P less than .001],” Dr. Srinivasan said.
Of clinical studies, he suggested that GAGT is particularly simple and helpful. In GAGT, the time for a patient to rise from a chair, walk 10 feet, and return to their original sitting position, is timed. According to Dr. Srinivasan, an interval of 12 seconds or greater is a measure of impaired mobility and a signal for increased risk of falls.
Other patient characteristics or disease features that predicted increased risk of falls included the presence of dyskinesias and treatment with relatively high doses of levodopa. All of these factors should be considered when conducting a comprehensive risk assessment.
“A formal evaluation should be conducted routinely in all patients because there are a number of simple and effective strategies to reduce falls in patients at high risk,” Dr. Srinivasan said. These include teaching patients to avoid abrupt movements and modifying therapies to avoid gait freezing and other symptoms associated with falls. He cited a 2014 review article by Canning et al. (Neurodegen Dis Manag. 2014;4:203-21) as one source of clinically useful approaches.
“Early prevention is important. One of the most significant risks of falls is a previous fall. Control of disease symptoms lowers risk, but motor symptoms are not the only concern,” Dr. Srinivasan said. He suggested nonmotor issues, including inadequate sleep, impaired cognitive function, and attention deficits, can all be addressed in order to prevent falls and the risks they pose to quality of life and outcome.
NEW YORK – There are numerous clinical factors and objective tools for identifying patients with Parkinson’s disease who have an increased risk of falls, according to data from a prospective study and an overview of this topic that was presented at the International Conference on Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders
“Identifying risk of falls, which can produce complications beyond the acute injury, is one of the most important unmet needs in Parkinson’s disease,” reported A.V. Srinivasan, MD, PhD, DSc, of the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medial University, Chennai, India.
Falls pose a risk of complications beyond acute injury because of the potential domino effect, according to Dr. Srinivasan. He maintained that when aging Parkinson’s disease patients are confined to bed for an extended period of recovery, a host of adverse health consequences can follow, including such life-threatening events as aspiration pneumonia.
“A serious fall can be the start of a downward clinical slope,” according to Dr. Srinivasan, who cited data suggesting that 40%-70% of Parkinson’s disease patients will have a serious fall at advanced stages of disease.
To identify those at greatest risk, a number of objective studies were shown to be useful in a study undertaken at the Institute of Neurology of Madras (India) Medical College, according to Dr. Srinivasan, where he was a professor when the study was conducted. In this study, 112 patients were evaluated with more than 15 months of follow-up. The 57 (51%) who experienced a fall were compared with the 55 who did not.
Between these groups, there was no difference in mean age (approximately 57 years in both) or in gender (approximately 70% male in both), according to Dr. Srinivasan. However, those who fell were significantly more likely to be obese (P = .009), to be on two or more anti-Parkinson’s medication (P = .01), and to be hypertensive (P = .018). Disease duration was significantly longer and disease severity significantly greater in those who fell relative to those who did not, according to Dr. Srinivasan.
However, Dr. Srinivasan placed particular emphasis on the objective studies that predicted risk of falls.
“When we compared baseline characteristics, Tinetti balance score, episodes of freezing gait, and the Get-Up-And-Go Test [GAGT], were all significant predictors of falls [all P less than .001],” Dr. Srinivasan said.
Of clinical studies, he suggested that GAGT is particularly simple and helpful. In GAGT, the time for a patient to rise from a chair, walk 10 feet, and return to their original sitting position, is timed. According to Dr. Srinivasan, an interval of 12 seconds or greater is a measure of impaired mobility and a signal for increased risk of falls.
Other patient characteristics or disease features that predicted increased risk of falls included the presence of dyskinesias and treatment with relatively high doses of levodopa. All of these factors should be considered when conducting a comprehensive risk assessment.
“A formal evaluation should be conducted routinely in all patients because there are a number of simple and effective strategies to reduce falls in patients at high risk,” Dr. Srinivasan said. These include teaching patients to avoid abrupt movements and modifying therapies to avoid gait freezing and other symptoms associated with falls. He cited a 2014 review article by Canning et al. (Neurodegen Dis Manag. 2014;4:203-21) as one source of clinically useful approaches.
“Early prevention is important. One of the most significant risks of falls is a previous fall. Control of disease symptoms lowers risk, but motor symptoms are not the only concern,” Dr. Srinivasan said. He suggested nonmotor issues, including inadequate sleep, impaired cognitive function, and attention deficits, can all be addressed in order to prevent falls and the risks they pose to quality of life and outcome.
REPORTING FROM ICPDMD 2018
Key clinical point: Patients with Parkinson’s disease at high risk for falls can be identified in order to initiate preventive strategies.
Major finding: For predicting falls, the Tinetti balance score and the Get-Up-And-Go test are both highly significant predictors (both P less than .001).
Study details: Observational study.
Disclosures: Dr. Srinivasan reports no financial relationships relevant to this study.