Parkinsonian Signs and Functional Disability in Old Age

Abstract

Little is known about the association between parkinsonian signs and functional disability. The authors examined the associations between four parkinsonian signs (gait, rigidity, bradykinesia, tremor) and the ability to perform physical and instrumental activities of daily living, in a large cohort of older Rush Memory and Aging Project participants who were free of dementia, Parkinson's disease, and antipsychotic drug use. In a series of logistic regression equations that controlled for age, sex, education, depressive symptoms, cognitive ability, chronic medical conditions, and psychotropic drug use, higher levels of parkinsonian signs were associated with higher levels of disability in performing both physical and instrumental activities of daily living.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by National Institute on Aging grants R01AG17917 and R01AG17133. The authors are indebted to the altruism and support of the residents from the following facilities participating in the Memory and Aging Project: Fairview Village, Downers Grove; The Holmstad, Batavia; Covenant Village, Northbrook; Wyndemere, Wheaton; Frances Manor, Des Plaines; Friendship Village, Schaumburg; Peace Village, Palos Park; Washington Jane Smith, Chicago; Garden House Apartments, Calumet City; Victorian Village, Homer Glen; King Bruwaert, Burr Ridge; The Breakers of Edgewater and The Imperial, Chicago; Victory Lakes, Lindenhurst; Windsor Park Manor, Carol Stream; Franciscan Village, Lemont; Rennaissance, Hillside; Alden of Waterford, Aurora; Elgin Housing Authority, Elgin; The Oaks, Oak Park; Bethlehem Woods, LaGrange Park; Luther Village, Arlington Heights; St. Paul's Home, Chicago; Marian Village, Homer Glen; Holland Home, South Holland; Village Woods, Crete; Lawrence Manor, Matteson; Cedar Village, Arlington Heights; St. Andrew's Manor, Phoenix; Kingston Place, Chicago; The Birches, Clarendon Hills; Mayslake Village, Oak Brook. The authors also thank Traci Colvin, MPH, Tracy Hagman, and George Hoganson for study coordination; Pam Smith, Barbara Eubeler, Karen Lowe Graham, and Mary Futrell for study recruitment; George Dombrowski and Greg Klein for data management; Liping Gu, Woojeong Bang, and Todd Beck for statistical programming; Kuheli Mukherjee for manuscript support; and the entire staff of the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center and Memory and Aging Project.

Notes

^a Possible 100 points.

^b Female.

^c Global cognitive function.

^d Depressive symptoms.

^e Chronic medical conditions.

^f Psychotropic drug use.

*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001

*Adjusted for age, education, and sex.

†Odds ratio estimates are not presented for terms that are included in other multiplicative terms.