Drooling in Parkinson’s Disease: Prevalence and Progression from the Non-motor International Longitudinal Study

• Published in: Dysphagia 2020-12, Vol.35 (6), p.955-961
• Main Authors: van Wamelen, Daniel J., Leta, Valentina, Johnson, Julia, Ocampo, Claudia Lazcano, Podlewska, Aleksandra M., Rukavina, Katarina, Rizos, Alexandra, Martinez-Martin, Pablo, Chaudhuri, K. Ray
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis; Dysphagia; Gastroenterology; Hepatology; Imaging; Longitudinal studies; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Movement disorders; Neurodegenerative diseases; Original; Original Article; Otorhinolaryngology; Parkinson's disease; Prevalence studies (Epidemiology); Quality of life; Radiology; Saliva
• ISSN: 0179-051X; 1432-0460
• DOI: 10.1007/s00455-020-10102-5

Sialorrhoea in Parkinson’s disease (PD) is an often neglected yet key non-motor symptom with impact on patient quality of life. However, previous studies have shown a broad range of prevalence figures. To assess prevalence of drooling in PD and its relationship to quality of life, we performed a retrospective analysis of 728 consecutive PD patients who had a baseline and follow-up assessment as part of the Non-motor International Longitudinal Study (NILS), and for whom drooling presence and severity were available, assessed through the Non-Motor Symptoms Scale (NMSS). In addition, we analysed the prevalence of associated dysphagia through self-reported outcomes. Quality of life was assessed through the PDQ-8 scale. Baseline (disease duration 5.6 years) prevalence of drooling was 37.2% (score ≥ 1 NMSS question 19), and after 3.27 ± 1.74 years follow-up, this was 40.1% ( p  = 0.17). The prevalence of drooling increased with age ( p