Impact of Gastrointestinal Symptoms on Health-Related Quality of Life in an Australian Parkinson’s Disease Cohort

Table 1

Demographic and clinical characteristics of the cohort.

Measures		PD (n = 144)
		Mean (SD) or n(%)
Age (years)		65.6 (9.19)
Gender	Male	89 (61.8%)
Age of onset		56.96 (10.56)
Disease duration		8.61 (6.02)
LEDD (mg)^^		816.44 (629.69)
PD medications^^	L-DOPA	122 (84.7%)
	DA	67 (46.5%)
	COMT-I	37 (25.7%)
	MAO-I	38 (26.4%)
	Amantadine	21 (14.6%)
	Anticholinergics	0 (0%)
	Unmedicated	6 (4.1%)
MDS-UPDRS	Part I	10.79 (6.63)
	Part III	21.81 (14.16)
Hoehn and Yahr		2.03 (0.77%)
	Stage 1	32 (22.2%)
	Stage 2	83 (57.6%)
	Stage 3	21 (14.6%)
	Stage 4	8 (5.6%)
	Stage 5	0 (0%)
History of GI illness		41 (28.1%)
	IBS	10 (6.9%)
	IBD	3 (2.05%)
	Other GI symptoms^#	19 (13.0%)

^{^}indicates two missing values among the PD cases. ^#Other GI symptoms refers to other reported GI symptoms not organised into the 4 categories, such as diverticulitis, constipation, appendicitis, easily upset/sensitive stomach, recurring gastro episodes, strangulated bowel, incontinence. PD: Parkinson’s disease. SD: standard deviation. LEDD: levodopa equivalent daily dosage. L-DOPA: levodopa. DA: dopamine agonists. COMT-I: catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitor. MAO-I: monoamine oxidase inhibitor. MDS-UPDRS: movement disorders society unified Parkinson’s disease rating scale. IBS: irritable bowel syndrome. IBD: inflammatory bowel disease. PU: peptic ulcer. GI: gastrointestinal.