A new self-assessment questionnaire to assess parkinsonism: a cross-sectional study

Note: The editors of PJNS are aware that this article contains old data. However, we have decided to publish this article because a) the data is still important as this is a novel scale in assessment of parkinsonism, and b) the authors have written the article well and have mentioned this limitation of their manuscript. Background and Objective: A composite scale for parkinsonism and Parkinson’s disease (PD) that incorporates multiple motor system symptoms and systemic complaints and their severity may help the busy clinician in documenting the severity and progression of common and bothersome symptoms. The objective of this study was to study a new scale, Parkinson’s Symptoms Questionnaire (PSQ), to assess and track progression of parkinsonism. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that was conducted from August 2004 to December 2009 in a private clinic in State of Iowa, United States. We developed a new scale, PSQ, to assess common symptoms of parkinsonism. It has 14 items and each is graded from 0 to 2, for a score range of 0 (normal) to 28 (most severe symptoms). We compared the scale to Parkinson's disease Questionnaire-8 (PDQ-8).  Results:  The analysis was performed on 42 patients. Of these 42 patients 24 were male (57%), 18 were female (43%). Ages ranged from 55 to 91. Since PDQ-8 measures disability and PSQ measures wellness, we hypothesized that a score of 100% in PDQ-8 should correspond to 0% in PSQ. PSQ showed a strong negative correlation with PDQ-8. Conclusion:  The new scale showed promise to be used in clinical practice to quickly assess common symptoms in patients with parkinsonism and to document progression over time.