Affiliations: Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA | Parkinson's Disease Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA | Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA | Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology and Division of Sleep Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA | Avid Radiopharmaceuticals Inc., Philadelphia, PA, USA
Note: [] Correspondence to: Nabila Dahodwala, MD, MSc, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 330S. 9th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA. Tel.: +1 215 829 6708; Fax: +1 215 829 6606; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Falls are frequent in Parkinson's disease (PD), and may be influenced by daytime sleepiness. We reviewed the records of 120 men with PD. Mean Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) values were significantly different between non-fallers and fallers (6.0 vs. 9.7, p < 0.01). In multivariate analysis, ESS remained significantly associated with falls (OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.1–1.4, p = 0.02), along with cognitive impairment (OR 4.4 95% CI 1.0–18.7, p = 0.04) and postural instability/gait dysfunction (OR 1.6 95% CI 1.0–2.4, p = 0.03) in non-depressed patients. In conclusion, non-depressed PD patients are 20% more likely to fall for every one unit increase in the ESS measure of sleepiness.
Keywords: Parkinson's disease, falls, sleepiness, depression, cognitive impairment
