Study objectives: The aim was to investigate whether fatigue could predict the development of motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) in a southern Chinese population.
Methods: In total, 246 PD patients were recruited. All patients were evaluated by Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, and Unified PD Rating Scale provided by Movement Disorders Society (MDS-UPDRS). MDS-UPDRS was re-evaluated after 2 years.
Results: FSS scores were associated with total score and subparts of MDS-UPDRS (total: p 0.039, p 0.030, adjusted; part III: p 0.022, p 0.016, adjusted).
Conclusions: The symptom of subjective fatigue could predict the progression of PD.
Keywords: Autonomic dysfunction; Disease progression; Motor function; Parkinson’s disease.