Rapid eye movement behavior disorder in drug-naïve patients with Parkinson's disease

The current study aimed to investigate the occurrence and clinical associations of rapid eye movement (REM) behavior disorder (RBD) in early-stage Parkinson's disease (PD) from a cohort of Chinese patients. 158 treatment-naive PD patients in total were enrolled in the study. Each patient was categorized as PD with or without RBD according to the Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disorder Screening Questionnaire (RBDSQ). Of 158 patients, 31 PD patients (19.62%) reported RBD. PD patients with RBD showed higher Non-Motor Symptoms Scale (NMSS) score, higher Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) score, higher Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA) score, higher Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) score, higher PD Sleep Scale 2nd version (PDSS-2) score, lower Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) score and higher scores for the cognitions and communication domains from the PD Questionnaire-39 (PDQ-39). The stepwise binary logistic regression analysis showed that higher HAMA score (OR = 1.089, 95% CI = 1.010-1.174, P = 0.026), higher motor symptoms at night domain score from the PDSS-2 (OR = 1.389, 95% CI = 1.128-1.711, P = 0.002) and lower MOCA score (OR = 0.864, 95% CI = 0.757-0.986, P = 0.030) were correlated with RBD. This study found that RBD is not rare (19.62%) in Chinese drug-naïve PD patients and RBD has a great effect on quality of life. RBD in PD is related to cognitive dysfunction, anxiety and sleep disturbances.