Dysphagia, Freezing and balance in Parkinson’s patients
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The association between swallowing impairments, freezing-of-gait, falls and balance symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease: a questionnaire based study
IRAS ID
183092
Contact name
Christopher Kobylecki
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 1 days
Research summary
Swallowing impairments, freezing-of-gait and falls are common symptoms in Parkinson's disease, together with other non-motor symptoms, such as sleep disorders. In our previous study.
While dopaminergic medication, Levodopa, is the mainstream approach for Parkinson's and it can relieve the patients from motor symptoms; symptoms such as swallowing, freezing-of-gait and falls have been shown not to respond to dopaminergic medication (Levodopa) as much.
The results from our previous study, during which we studied individuals diagnosed with PD who were 'on' and 'off' medication, provided some evidence regarding similarities and differences between patients. We observed 3 different groups: individuals diagnosed with PD with no swallowing impairments, people with swallowing impairments only 'on' medication and people with swallowing impairments 'on' and 'off'. This is reminiscent of the groups identified for freezing-of-gait symptoms, according to the subject's responsiveness to Levodopa.
Here, we would like to see if there is any association in the perception of swallowing, freezing-of-gait and falls, and what is the status of non-motor symptomatology in individuals with Parkinson's with at least one of the aforementioned symptoms.
REC name
London - Chelsea Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/0384
Date of REC Opinion
17 Mar 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion