Parkinson’s disease functional movement battery a comprehensive test set to evaluate of motor abilities in persons with Parkinson’s disease

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new test battery to assess motor abilities in Parkinson’s disease patients, showing it can effectively distinguish between patients and healthy controls and track disease progression.

Contribution

The PD-FUNC test battery is a novel comprehensive tool for evaluating motor function in Parkinson’s disease with high sensitivity and practical application.

Findings

The PD-FUNC test effectively discriminates between Parkinson’s disease patients and healthy controls.

Dexterity tasks showed the highest sensitivity in detecting early-stage Parkinson’s symptoms.

Dynamic stability tests revealed late-stage symptoms, and the test can be completed in 30–40 minutes.

Abstract

Clinicians require quantitative measures of functional movement to inform care decisions for persons with Parkinson’s disease (PWPs). To address this need, we developed the Parkinson’s Disease—Functional Movement Battery (PD-FUNC), which includes valid items from existing assessments and evaluates five key areas from the MDS-UPDRS-III: manual dexterity, functional strength, locomotion, static balance, and activities of daily living. This study assessed the PD-FUNC’s ability to distinguish between PWPs and healthy controls based on effect sizes and analyzed differences according to disease progression using years since diagnosis and MDS-UPDRS-III scores, as well as Hoehn & Yahr (H&Y) stages. The test was administered to 81 PD patients (H&Y stages 1–3) and 81 age-matched controls. All items, except grip force, discriminated effectively, with dexterity tasks showing the highest sensitivity (effect size r = 0.52–0.63). The PD-FUNC distinguished PD stages well, revealing early symptoms through dexterity tests (p = 0.001) and late-stage symptoms via dynamic stability tests. The PD-FUNC could provide a comprehensive assessment within 30–40 min and could be used to evaluate disease progression and medication effectiveness at home and in clinical settings.

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