Pain is a key unmet need and a major aspect of non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). No specific validated scales exist to identify and grade the various types of pain in PD. We report an international, cross-sectional, open, multicenter, one-point-in-time evaluation with retest study of the first PD-specific pain scale, the King's PD Pain Scale. Its seven domains include 14 items, each item scored by severity (0-3) multiplied by frequency (0-4), resulting in a subscore of 0 to 12, with a total possible score range from 0 to 168. One hundred seventy-eight PD patients with otherwise unexplained pain (age [mean ± SD], 64.38 ± 11.38 y [range, 29-85]; 62.92% male; duration of disease, 5.40 ± 4.93 y) and 83 nonspousal non-PD controls, matched by age (64.25 ± 11.10 y) and sex (61.45% males) were studied. No missing data were noted, and floor effect was observed in all domains. The difference between mean and median King's PD Pain Scale total score was less than 10% of the maximum observed value. Skewness was marginally high (1.48 for patients). Factor analysis showed four factors in the King's PD Pain Scale, explaining 57% of the variance (Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin, 0.73; sphericity test). Cronbach's alpha was 0.78, item-total correlation mean value 0.40, and item homogeneity 0.22. Correlation coefficients of the King's PD Pain Scale domains and total score with other pain measures were high. Correlation with the Scale for Outcomes in PD-Motor, Non-Motor Symptoms Scale total score, and quality of life measures was high. The King's PD Pain Scale seems to be a reliable and valid scale for grade rating of various types of pain in PD.

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Background and purpose Impulse control disorders (ICDs) in Parkinson's disease (PD) are associated primarily with dopamine agonist (DA) use. Comparative surveys of clinical occurrence of impulse control behaviours on longer acting/transdermal DA therapy across age ranges are lacking. The aim of this study was to assess the occurrence of ICDs in PD patients across several European centres treated with short‐ or long‐acting [ropinirole (ROP); pramipexole (PPX)] and transdermal [rotigotine skin patch (RTG)] DAs, based on clinical survey as part of routine clinical care. Methods A survey based on medical records and clinical interviews of patients initiating or initiated on DA treatment (both short‐ and long‐acting, and transdermal) across a broad range of disease stages and age groups was performed. Results Four hundred and twenty‐five cases were included [mean age 68.3 years (range 37–90), mean duration of disease 7.5 years (range 0–37)]. ICD frequencies (as assessed by clinical interview) were significantly lower with RTG (4.9%; P < 0.05) compared with any other assessed DAs except for prolonged release PPX (PPX‐PR). The rate of ICDs for PPX‐PR (6.6%) was significantly lower than for immediate release PPX (PPX‐IR) (19.0%; P < 0.05). Discontinuation rates of DA therapy due to ICDs were low. Conclusion Our data suggest a relatively low rate of ICDs with long‐acting or transdermal DAs, however these preliminary observational data need to be confirmed with prospective studies controlling for possible confounding factors.