Predictors of Activities of Daily Living Performance in PD

Dual-task interference in a patient’s dominant hand is a strong predictor of activities of daily living (ADL) performance in those with Parkinson’s disease, according to a study published online in Parkinsonism & Related Disorders.

“Dual-task interference leads to impairment of hand dexterity in Parkinson disease. The performance of ADL is negatively affected by dexterity in Parkinson's disease,” researchers wrote. “However, the contribution of dual-task interference to dexterity-related ADL disability remains unclear.”

To gain further insight into the influence, researchers assessed 108 patients with Parkinson disease. They measured dexterity-related ADL performance using the ADL-related dexterity questionnaire-24 and performance in single- and dual-task conditions using the 9-hole peg test. They also gauged disease severity, cardinal symptoms, and grip strength.

Dual-task interference in the dominant hand explained 44% of the variance in ADL performance, researchers found. Disease severity explained 8.5% of the variance, and bradykinesia explained 7.2%.

Overall, the predictive model developed by researchers explained 59.2% of variance in ADL difficulties.

“The study demonstrated that disease severity, bradykinesia, and dual-task interference in the dominant hand contributed to ADL difficulties in patients with Parkinson’s disease,” researchers wrote, “and dual-task interference in the dominant hand is the strongest predictor of ADL performance in Parkinson’s disease.”

—Jolynn Tumolo

Reference

Acaröz Candan S, Özcan TŞ. Dual-task interference during hand dexterity is a predictor for activities of daily living performance in Parkinson's disease [published online July 13, 2019]. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2019 Jul 13. pii: S1353-8020(19)30307-4. doi: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2019.07.017