Evaluationsbericht Psychologie 2012:gemeinsamer Bericht über die Evaluationen im Fach Psychologie im WiSe 11/12 und SoSe 12

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Timed Up and Go, Cognitive, and Quality-of-Life Correlates in Parkinson’s Disease

Objective: To examine the relationship between Timed Up and Go (TUG) performance, verbal executive function (EF) performance, and quality-of-life (QOL) measures in Parkinson\u27s disease (PD). Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Sixteen movement disorder centers from across the United States. Participants: Patients with PD (N=1964). Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: TUG test, immediate and delayed 5-word recall, verbal fluency, PD QOL Questionnaire. Results: TUG performance and verbal EF performance were significantly associated with, and predictors of, QOL measures, having the greatest association and predictability with the mobility domain of the QOL measures. Conclusions: The TUG test and verbal EF tests have QOL correlates, making the combined evaluation of mobility, cognitive, and QOL decline a potential examination tool to evaluate the sequelae of PD

Repetitive finger movement and circle drawing in persons with Parkinson's disease.

Little is known regarding how repetitive finger movement performance impacts other fine motor control tasks, such as circle drawing, in persons with Parkinson's disease (PD). Previous research has shown that impairments in repetitive finger movements emerge at rates near to and above 2 Hz in most persons with PD. Thus, the purpose of this study was to compare circle drawing performance in persons with PD that demonstrate impairment in repetitive finger movement and those that do not. Twenty-two participants with PD and twelve healthy older adults completed the study. Only participants with PD completed the repetitive finger movement task. From the kinematic data for the repetitive finger movement task, participants were grouped into Hasteners and Non-Hasteners. Participants with PD and the healthy older adults completed a series of circle drawing tasks at two different target sizes (1 cm and 2 cm) and three pacing conditions (Self-paced, 1.25 Hz, and 2.5 Hz). Kinematic and electromyography data were recorded and compared between groups. Results revealed that, in general, persons with PD demonstrate impairments in circle drawing and associated electromyography activity compared to healthy older adults. Moreover, persons with PD that hasten during repetitive finger movements demonstrate significantly increased movement rate during circle drawing, while those persons with PD that do not hasten demonstrate a significant increase in width variability. This suggests that differing motor control mechanisms may play a role in the performance of fine motor tasks in persons with PD. Continued research is needed to better understand differences in circle drawing performance among persons with PD to inform future development of patient-centered treatments