BackgroundEvidence points to the occurrence of cognitive impairment in all stages of PD, constituting a frequent and debilitating symptom, due to high impact on quality of life and mortality of patients.ObjectiveTo correlate cognitive performance with quality of life in PD.MethodsThe sample was drawn from a Movement Disorders Clinic of a reference hospital in Porto Alegre. Inclusion criteria were: PD diagnosis, according to the United Kingdom Parkinson's Disease Society Brain Bank criteria for idiopathic PD (Hughes et al. 1992) and patient consent to participate. Patients with other neurological pathologies and those submitted to deep brain stimulation were excluded. The evaluation consisted of a cognitive testing battery (composed of eight tests for assessing cognitive performance), and a questionnaire on quality of life (PDQ-39) and depression (BDI).ResultsThe sample comprised 85 individuals with PD, with a mean age of 62.9 years (±10.7), mean disease duration of 10.4 years (±5.7), and mean educational level of four years (±4.3). There was a significant relationship between total score on the PDQ and all cognitive tests, showing that poor cognitive performance was correlated with poor quality of life. Moreover, a significant correlation was observed between cognitive tests and depression, H&Y, education level, and age.ConclusionIt may be concluded that the individuals with PD in this sample showed a correlation between poorer quality of life and worse cognitive performance. Poor performance was also correlated with more advanced stage, older age, low level of education and depression.

Some of the most common losses in Parkinson’s disease (PD) are the changes in executive functions. The Trail Making Test is an important test to evaluate the executive functions. The objective of this study was to verify the cutoff point of the Trail Making Test for individuals with PD compared to healthy controls. This was a cross-sectional case-control study. The inclusion criteria for the case group were a diagnosis of PD and having taken PD medicine before the evaluation. Individuals with other neurological disorders and atypical or secondary parkinsonism were excluded. The inclusion criterion for the control group was absence of neurological impairment, and participants were paired by age and level of education with patients with PD. The following protocols were applied to individuals from the two groups: Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Trail Making Test (TMT) A and B and verbal TMT (vTMT) A and B. The sample was composed of 78 individuals, with 39 persons in both groups. In the Mann-Whitney test, a significant difference was verified in TMT A and B and vTMT B between the groups, and the case group presented worse results. We suggest a cutoff point for TMT A of 103 seconds, TMT B of 297.5 seconds, and vTMT B of 77.5 seconds. In conclusion, the TMT B verbal and written test can differentiate patients with PD from healthy controls. It can be used as a fast application test for executive function screening.

RESUMO Objetivo: traduzir e adaptar culturalmente para o português brasileiro o Swallowing disturbance questionnaire (SDQ) para detecção de risco de disfagia em indivíduos com Doença de Parkinson (DP). Métodos: realizou-se tradução para o português, retradução para o inglês, análise de confiabilidade do instrumento, sendo a versão final aplicada aos participantes e realizado o reteste após duas semanas. Selecionou-se os participantes em um ambulatório de distúrbios do movimento de um hospital de referência no Rio Grande do Sul. Incluiu-se indivíduos com diagnóstico de DP. Excluiu-se indivíduos com alteração de linguagem ou audição que impossibilitasse a compreensão do questionário e com diagnóstico de outras doenças neurológicas. Resultados: a amostra foi composta por 23 indivíduos. Os participantes responderam a todas as questões. Não houve eliminação de nenhuma questão. Na análise da confiabilidade teste-reteste o coeficiente de correlação intraclasse do escore final nos dois momentos foi de 0,912 com p<0,001 (95%IC=0,792-0,963), demonstrando que os dados são altamente homogêneos. Na análise por questão, não houve diferença significante entre os dois momentos de aplicação. O valor de α de Cronbach do instrumento foi de 0,63. Conclusão: houve equivalência cultural do SDQ para o português brasileiro, com boa confiabilidade interna do instrumento.

Introduction  Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an established treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD). However, there is little evidence regarding the effect of DBS on dysphagia. Objective  To assess the swallowing and quality of life of individuals with PD before and after DBS surgery. Methods  Our sample consisted of people who had undergone DBS surgery in a referral hospital in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The inclusion criteria were a diagnosis of PD and having undergone DBS surgery. A cognitive screening, through a questionnaire about depression and quality of life, was conducted. Evaluations of each patient's swallowing were performed before and after surgery. The assessment consisted of anamnesis, clinical assessment, the Functional Oral Intake Scale, clinical evaluation of swallowing, and the Hoehn and Yahr scale. Results  The sample included 10 individuals, all male, with a mean age of 57.3 years (±4.7), a mean disease duration of 13.0 years (±2.4), and mean level education of 8.1 years (±4.0). In the clinical evaluation of the swallowing, a significant improvement after DBS was not observed. However, little changes in the signs and symptoms of dysphagia that had a positive impact on the quality of life were observed. Furthermore, there was no relation between the patients' motor subtype and swallowing pre- and post-DBS. Conclusion  There was an improvement in the quality of life of the patients after DBS. However, the improvement in the clinical signs and symptoms of dysphagia did not cause an overall improvement in the swallowing function.

Introduction: Cognitive impairment has been identified in 30% -50% of the population with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Among these patients, dysphagia is not only a very common symptom but also one of the main bulbar symptoms. Objective: To correlate cognitive function and dysphagia in patients with ALS. Methods: a cross-sectional study. Criteria for inclusion were an ALS diagnosis and the signing of the consent form. Criteria for exclusion were patients who had undergone speech therapy, patients within sufficient oral language skills to participate in cognitive tests, patients receiving enteral feeding and patients who withdrew from the study before completing all the stages. Evaluations of cognition and dysphagia were performed. Results: The initial sample consisted of 86 participants, 69 of which fell under exclusion criteria. Seventeen patients were evaluated, with a mean age of 49.8 (±11.3) and a mean education period of 7.1 (±2.8) years. Disease evolution was analyzed in months, with a median of 24 (P25 = 10; P75 = 72) months. In this sample, 70.6% of patients were male (p = 0.019). Among the tests performed, those of executive functions were correlated with dysphagia: FAB (p = 0.019) and Trail Making Test A (p = 0.006). Conclusion: This pilot study suggests a correlation between executive functions and dysphagia.