AN AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY STUDY OF PARKINSONS-DISEASE .1. DISEASE SEVERITY AND FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY

Demographic, clinical and physical information Iras obtained from 200 volunteers who had Parkinson's disease (PD). The clinical history reve aled minimal social and psychological impairment. Physical difficultie s such as mobility and restless legs were reported as the most trouble some symptoms of PD. A disease severity score,ras calculated by the ad dition of the ratings from the physical examination to a scaled score obtained from afoot tapping exercise. Over half of the sample had dise ase severity scores which,were less than or equal to thee mean of the entire sample. Functional disability Iras measured by the Sickness Imp act Profile (SIP) and the highest dysfunction scores were in the areas of recreation and pastimes, alertness behaviour communication and hom e management. Functional disability,ras significantly positively corre lated with age and duration of illness.