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Body Mass Index in Parkinson Disease

Evaluating changes in unified UPDRS scores

Publish date:: January 26, 2016

Change in body mass index (BMI) was inversely associated with change in motor and total Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) scores, according to a study of 1,673 patients with early and treated PD who were followed up for 3 to 6 years. Researchers found:

9.4% of patients lost weight and 13.9% gained weight.

After adjusting for covariates, the weight-loss group’s mean motor UPDRS score increased by 1.48 more points per visit vs the weight-stable group’s mean motor UPDRS score.

The weight-gain group’s mean motor UPDRS score decreased by 0.51 points per visit vs the weight-stable group’s mean motor UPDRS score.

Although there was an unadjusted difference in survival between the 3 BMI trajectory groups, this was not significant after covariate adjustments.

Citation: Wills AA, Pérez A, Wang J, et al. Association between change in body mass index, unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale scores, and survival among persons with Parkinson disease. [Published online ahead of print January 11, 2016]. JAMA Neurol. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2015.4265.

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