A cross-sectional study of the nutritional status of community-dwelling people with idiopathic Parkinson's disease.

Ahmed F Jaafar,Richard W Walker,Elizabeth J Turnbull,Bob Porter,William K Gray

doi:10.1186/1471-2377-10-124

Abstract

BackgroundParkinson's disease (PD) patients have an increased risk of under-nutrition, but we are unaware of any population based prevalence studies of under-nutrition in PD. The main objective of this study was to identify the prevalence, and nature, of under-nutrition in a representative population of people with PD.MethodsPeople diagnosed with idiopathic PD from within two PD prevalence study sites in North-East England were asked to participate in this study. Those who participated (n = 136) were assessed using a number of standard rating scales including Hoehn & Yahr stage and Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). Body mass index (BMI), mid-arm circumference (MAC), triceps skin fold thickness (TSF) and grip strength were recorded together with social and demographic information.ResultsBMI < 20 identified over 15% of the study group to have under-nutrition. The Malnutritional Universal Screening Tool (MUST) scoring system identified 23.5% of participants at medium or high risk of malnutrition. Low BMI, indicating under-nutrition, was associated with greater age and disease duration, lower MAC, TSF, mid-arm muscle circumference (MAMC), reduced grip strength and a report of unintentional weight loss. Problems increased with increasing age and disease duration and were greater in females.ConclusionsUnder-nutrition is a problem for around 15% of community dwelling people with PD. All PD patients should be screened for under-nutrition; the MUST score is a useful early screening tool.

Highlights

Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients have an increased risk of under-nutrition, but we are unaware of any population based prevalence studies of under-nutrition in PD
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that has been shown to put individuals at increased risk of malnutrition and weight loss compared to age matched controls [1]
Previous studies have shown an increase in basal metabolic rate in PD patients, and this increase in energy expenditure has been implicated in the aetiology of weight loss in patients with PD [3,4,5,6]

Summary

Introduction

Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients have an increased risk of under-nutrition, but we are unaware of any population based prevalence studies of under-nutrition in PD. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that has been shown to put individuals at increased risk of malnutrition and weight loss compared to age matched controls [1]. Previous studies have shown an increase in basal metabolic rate in PD patients, and this increase in energy expenditure has been implicated in the aetiology of weight loss in patients with PD [3,4,5,6]. Using the mini nutritional assessment as a screening tool, a recent 3 year longitudinal study of 61 PD patients from a referral centre found malnutrition risk increased from 22.9% to 34.3%.

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