Validation of the Italian version of the Movement Disorder Society—Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale

Abstract

The Movement Disorder Society-sponsored revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) has been available in English since 2008. As part of this process, the MDS-UPDRS organizing team developed guidelines for development of official non-English translations. We present here the formal process for completing officially approved non-English versions of the MDS-UPDRS and specifically focus on the first of these versions in Italian. The MDS-UPDRS was translated into Italian and tested in 377 nativeItalian speaking PD patients. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses determined whether the factor structure for the English-language MDS-UPDRS could be confirmed in data collected using the Italian translation. To be designated an 'Official MDS translation,' the Comparative Fit Index (CFI) had to be ≥0.90 relative to the English-language version. For all four parts of the Italian MDS-UPDRS, the CFI, in comparison with the English-language data, was ≥0.94. Exploratory factor analyses revealed some differences between the two datasets, however these differences were considered to be within an acceptable range. The Italian version of the MDS-UPDRS reaches the criterion to be designated as an Official Translation and is now available for use. This protocol will serve as outline for further validation of this in multiple languages.2

Freezing of gait and affective theory of mind in Parkinson disease

“…Patients implanted for Deep Brain Stimulation were also excluded. Disease severity was evaluated with the section III (Motor Examination) of the MDS e Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (Italian version of the MDS-UPDRS) [21]. Dopamine dose equivalent was calculated for each patient by using previously established guidelines [22].…”

Spectrum of cognitive disorders in idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus

“…Motor symptoms were evaluated using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Part III (UPDRS III); this is a clinician-administered scale that is currently applied to measure the motor impairment due to parkinsonism (Goetz et al, 2008;Antonini et al, 2013).…”

Relationship between the non-motor items of the MDS–UPDRS and Quality of Life in patients with Parkinson's disease

“…The main aim of this revision was to address the shortages of the original scale, to improve scale properties and cover a bigger number of PD manifestations particularly including some non-motor symptoms (NMS), which were not part of the original scale. The MDS-UPDRS has demonstrated good reliability and validity also in multiple other studies [3][4][5].…”