Central Pain in Parkinson’s Disease: Behavioral and Cognitive Characteristics
Table 1
Demographic, clinical, and therapeutic characteristics of Parkinson’s disease patients according to pain subtype.
A. PD without pain (n = 72)
B. PD with non-central pain (n = 147)
C. PD with central pain (n = 41)
A vs. B
A vs. C
B vs. C
Sex—male
44 (61%)
73 (50%)
18 (44%)
0.111
0.077
0.514
Age
72 (64–78)
70 (63–77)
64 (56–71)
0.556
0.001
0.002
Education
4 (4–9)
4 (4–6)
4 (4–9)
0.254
0.977
0.396
Age at disease onset
63 (55–69)
60 (53–69)
57 (45–63)
0.291
0.002
0.011
Disease duration (years)
6 (4–13)
8 (4–12)
6 (4–12)
0.030
0.815
0.093
UPDRS-II
OFF
11 (7–17)
15 (9–23)
18 (12–22)
0.002
0.001
0.274
ON
6 (3–11)
9 (6–13)
8 (4–11)
0.002
0.108
0.360
UPDRS-II levodopa responsiveness
44 (20–63)
36 (19–52)
56 (43–67)
0.156
0.063
0.001
UPDRS-III
OFF
30 (22–38)
32 (25–41)
34 (23–42)
0.118
0.122
0.572
ON
21 (15–26)
21 (16–27)
24 (17–30)
0.481
0.112
0.250
UPDRS-III levodopa responsiveness
32 (22–38)
31 (22–42)
30 (23–42)
0.844
0.766
0.645
L-dopa equivalent (mg)
710 (400–1063)
840 (500–1180)
880 (580–1160)
0.060
0.170
0.974
Agonists
27 (38%)
57 (39%)
24 (59%)
0.855
0.031
0.024
Pain treatment
NSAIDs
—
41 (28%)
9 (22%)
—
—
0.447
Antidepressant
—
4 (3%)
4 (10%)
—
—
0.070
AEDs
—
6 (4%)
4 (10%)
—
—
0.229
Paracetamol
—
30 (20%)
11 (27%)
—
—
0.379
Other drugs
—
14 (10%)
2 (5%)
—
—
0.529
DRS-2
Total
25 (35%)
54 (37%)
11 (27%)
0.771
0.387
0.238
Attention
21 (29%)
46 (31%)
11 (27%)
0.748
0.791
0.582
Initiation/Perseveration
22 (31%)
41 (28%)
5 (12%)
0.682
0.028
0.039
Construction
21 (29%)
39 (27%)
11 (27%)
0.681
0.791
0.969
Conceptualization
16 (22%)
32 (22%)
1 (2%)
0.939
0.005
0.004
Memory
19 (26%)
36 (25%)
10 (24%)
0.761
0.815
0.990
QUIP-S
Total
13 (18%)
37 (25%)
12 (29%)
0.239
0.167
0.597
Gambling
0 (0%)
10 (7%)
3 (7%)
0.033
0.046
>0.999
Sexual
4 (6%)
15 (10%)
2 (5%)
0.251
>0.999
0.372
Buying
4 (6%)
5 (3%)
3 (7%)
0.480
0.703
0.375
Eating
5 (7%)
9 (6%)
1 (2%)
0.777
0.414
0.693
Other compulsive behaviors
5 (7%)
11 (8%)
8 (20%)
0.886
0.064
0.037
Compulsive medication use
1 (1%)
6 (4%)
0 (0%)
0.287
>0.999
0.342
Smoking
Current habits
1 (1%)
5 (3%)
5 (12%)
0.666
0.023
0.043
Past habits
14 (19%)
35 (24%)
10 (24%)
0.451
0.537
0.956
PD: Parkinson’s disease; UPDRS: Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale; NSAIDs: nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; AEDs: antiepileptic drugs; DRS: Dementia Rating Scale; QUIP-S: Impulse Control Disorders in Parkinson’s Disease Short Form. Data are presented as frequencies (%) and medians (25th–75th). Chi-square (or Fisher’s exact when appropriate) and Mann–Whitney tests were applied for group comparisons.
