Hl. Katzen et al., AGE OF DISEASE ONSET INFLUENCES COGNITION IN PARKINSONS-DISEASE, Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 4(3), 1998, pp. 285-290
It is controversial whether age of disease onset is related to cogniti
ve decline in Parkinson's disease (PD). We administered 7 cognitive me
asures assessing visuospatial skills, memory, and executive functions
to 222 patients with idiopathic PD and 108 normal control participants
. Regression analyses demonstrated that older age of disease onset con
sistently predicted cognitive decline above and beyond normative aging
and duration of illness. These findings suggest that older age of dis
ease onset is a critical determinant of cognitive deterioration in PD.