INCREASED PREVALENCE OF UNDERNUTRITION IN PARKINSONS-DISEASE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO CLINICAL-DISEASE PARAMETERS

An anthropometric study was performed in 95 subjects (53 male, 42 fema le) with Parkinson's disease. Weight, height, triceps and biceps skin- fold thicknesses, and mid-arm circumference were recorded. A high inci dence of undernutrition was found (23.6% of males and 22.5% of females , as defined by recent British guidelines). A subgroup of severely dis abled patients with Parkinson's disease had a significantly lower mean body mass index than a similarly disabled control group with chronic pyramidal upper motor neuron lesions (males 20.6 v 23.2 kg/m2 p < 0.05 ; females 20.6 v 26.6 kg/m2 p < 0.01), suggesting that the undernutrit ion is not due to chronic illness or immobility alone. Correlation bet ween anthropometric indices and clinical features of disease demonstra ted that the presence of moderate or severe dyskinetic movements was t he clinical parameter most strongly related to undernutrition. The red uction in anthropometric indices was most marked for skin fold thickne ss (related to percentage body fat) and least for arm muscle circumfer ence (related to lean body mass); therefore the weight loss seen in Pa rkinson's disease is primarily due to fat loss rather than muscle loss .