Self-reported autonomic symptoms in Parkinson's disease: properties of the SCOPA-AUT scale

Autonomic symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) are very common and contribute to the severity of patient's disability. We evaluated the occurrence of autonomic symptoms in Greek patients with PD utilizing the Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson's Disease-Autonomic questionnaire (SCOPA-AUT), a specific 23-item self-completed questionnaire for the assessment of autonomic dysfunction in patients with PD.

One hundred and sixty-one PD patients and forty matched controls were enrolled in the study. Clinical assessment was performed with the Hoehn and Yahr scale. Patients completed a demographic questionnaire, the Non-Motor Symptoms Questionnaire (NMSQuest), the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39) and the SCOPA-AUT scale which was properly translated into Greek and validated for the study.

SCOPA-AUT scale showed a good reliability profile and  correlated well with other measures for non-motor symptoms and health-related quality measures in PD patients. PD patients scored higher than controls in the total SCOPA -AUT score (mean score 11.9 versus 6.4). Patients reported problems in many items of the SCOPA-AUT, but the most common autonomic symptoms emerged in the Urinary and the Gastrointestinal domains. Especially sialorrhea, constipation, straining for defecation, incontinence and nocturia differentiated patients from controls. Furthermore, mean total SCOPA-AUT score correlated with duration and severity of the disease.

Autonomic symptoms in PD are too important to remain undetected. By incorporating into everyday practice the use of suitable and reliable questionnaires, physicians will be able to adequately detect and manage these symptoms. Hippokratia 2016, 20(2):115-120.