Abstract
Selecting appropriate motor outcome measures has been a challenge in rehabilitation settings. In our recent research on Parkinson's disease (PD), functional measures failed to identify improvements while clinical assessments of motor symptoms did. The current study evaluated the relationships between self-report of motor symptoms, clinical motor assessments and functional motor tasks. Eighty-one individuals with PD were assessed pre and post a 12 week rehabilitation intervention (PD SAFExâ„¢) with the Unified Parkinson's disease rating scale (UPDRS) ll & III (self report & clinical motor assessment, respectively), Timed-Up-And-Go (TUG) for lower limbs, and Grooved Pegboard (GP) for upper limbs. Improvements in UPDRS lll (total score and upper and lower limb subsets) were compared with the change measured in functional tools: UPDRS ll, TUG and GP. UPDRS ll was also compared with the change in functional clinical measures. As seen previously, significant improvements were found with clinical motor but not functional motor assessments. Furthermore, weak correlations were identified between clinical and functional measures. UPDRS lll weakly correlated with UPDRS ll (r=0.08), TUG (r=0.18) and GP (r=0.22; r=0.14, affected & non-affected limb). UPDRS lll subsets correlated poorly with TUG (r=0.1) and GP (r=0.12; r=-0.3). UPDRS ll correlated poorly with TUG (r=-0.1) and GP (r=0.19; r=-0.16). These results suggest that symptom self report may not be sensitive enough to measure functional motor status. Upper and lower limb functional tasks appear to be inappropriate for the assessment of exercise interventions. The most useful motor outcomes in a rehabilitation context will be discussed.Acknowledgments: Research Support by Sun Life Financial and Canadian Institutes for Health Research - Institute of Aging: Mobility, Musculoskeletal Health & Arthritis.