[Fatigability in Parkinson's disease]

Forty-five patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) without dementia were studied. Duration of disease was 6,02+/-3,47 years. The following scales were used: PFS-16, UPDRS part 2, the Beck Depression Scale, PDSS and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. Fatigability is thought to be one of three presentations of PD that restrict daily activities in 64% of patients. The integrated assessment of fatigability was significantly correlated with the total depression score and PDSS scores. The treatment with mirapex resulted in the reduction of fatigability that was not correlated with changes in motor functioning, depression, sleep disorders. Fatigability is a symptom that significantly disturbs daily activities of patients. The author suggests that fatigability is more associated with nervous and psychiatric symptoms than with a severity of movement disorders. The lack of significant association between dynamics of fatigability and changes in other parameters of nervous and psychiatric functions during the therapy plausibly implies the separate genesis of this symptom.