Original articleSkilled Hand Dexterity in Parkinson's Disease: Effects of Adding a Concurrent Task
Section snippets
Participants
Twenty-two people diagnosed with idiopathic PD and 22 age-matched and sex-matched unimpaired people were recruited for this study using written and verbal invitations and local advertising. Potential participants with PD were recruited by written invitation and with advertising placed at movement disorders clinics and in a support group newsletter. The unimpaired group was recruited by word-of-mouth invitation within social networks and with advertising in a staff newsletter. Those expressing
Participant Characteristics
Twenty-two people with idiopathic PD diagnosed by a neurologist participated. There were 11 men and 11 women with PD (median modified Hoehn and Yahr score=2). Their mean age ± SD was 63.95±9.78 years (range, 51–85), and they were matched for age and sex with a group of 22 comparisons (mean age ± SD, 63.64±10.00y; range, 50–86). Levodopa equivalent daily dosages were calculated for each of the participants with PD, as shown in table 1.
Purdue Pegboard Test (Unitask)
Tests for the nondominant hand were not conducted on 1
Discussion
People with PD performed more poorly on a test of manual dexterity than an unimpaired group that was matched for age and sex. Although the participants with PD were tested when taking their usual medication, they were unable to match the performance of the unimpaired group on this dexterity task. When the dexterity test was combined with a verbal-cognitive task, the effect of dual-task interference caused both groups to reduce their performance on the timed dexterity test. Both groups showed a
Conclusions
People with mild-moderate PD had poor performance on a skilled hand task compared with age-matched peers. When a concurrent task was added, both groups declined in performance on the dexterity task. There was greater dual-task interference in the PD group, who showed reduced ability to perform the secondary task. Participants with PD also reported more difficulty with everyday hand activities such as fastening buttons and taking money from a wallet.
References (32)
The effect of directing attention during walking under dual-task conditions in Parkinson's disease
Parkinsonism Relat Disord
(2005)- et al.
Postural instability in Parkinson's disease: a comparison with and without a concurrent task
Gait Posture
(2000) - et al.
Performance with multiple sets in Parkinson's disease
Neuropsychologia
(1964) - et al.
“Mini-Mental State”: a practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician
J Psychiatr Res
(1975) The assessment and analysis of handedness: the Edinburgh inventory
Neuropsychologia
(1971)- et al.
Manual Ability Measure (MAM-16): a preliminary report on a new patient-centred and task-oriented outcome measure of hand function
J Hand Surg [BR]
(2005) - et al.
The coin rotation task: a convenient and sensitive measure of fine motor control
Arch Clin Neuropsychol
(1998) - et al.
Quantification of the dopaminergic response in Parkinson's disease
Parkinsonism Relat Disord
(2002) - et al.
The development and validation of a short measure of functioning and well being for individuals with Parkinson's disease
Qual Life Res
(1995) - et al.
Survey of the hobbies and transport of patients with Parkinson's disease
Br J Occup Ther
(1985)
Strength and isometric torque control in individuals with Parkinson's disease
Exp Brain Res
Inter-digit individuation and force variability in the precision grip of young, elderly and Parkinson's disease participants
Motor Control
Patterns of asymmetry do not change over the course of idiopathic Parkinson's disease: implications for pathogenesis
Neurology
The dual task performance in Parkinson's disease
Rev Bras Fisioter
Poor dopaminergic response of impaired dexterity in Parkinson's disease: bradykinesia or limb kinetic apraxia
Mov Disord
Piribedil and bromocriptine in Parkinson's disease: a single-blind crossover study
Acta Neurol Scand
Cited by (72)
Effect of Proprioceptive Training Compared With Other Interventions for Upper Limb Deficits in People With Parkinson Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
2023, Archives of Physical Medicine and RehabilitationDopaminergic modulation of primary motor cortex: From cellular and synaptic mechanisms underlying motor learning to cognitive symptoms in Parkinson's disease
2022, Neurobiology of DiseaseCitation Excerpt :These data emphasize the role of the meso-cortical pathway and hence cortical DA in the acquisition of motor skills, but not in their maintenance, by selecting and potentiating the newly-formed spines necessary for the execution of the movement in the learning process while depressing the unnecessary ones. In addition to the cardinal motor symptoms (tremor, rigidity bradykinesia and postural instability), PD patients also experience significant disability in executing fine motor tasks (Dan et al., 2019; Proud and Morris, 2010; Vanbellingen et al., 2011), like tying shoelaces or handwriting (Pohar and Allyson Jones, 2009). These fine motor symptoms respond to DA replacement therapy (Gebhardt et al., 2008; Lee et al., 2018) suggesting that DA plays an important role in dexterous skills.
Progressive muscle-strength protocol for the functionality of upper limbs and quality of life in individuals with Parkinson's disease: Pilot study
2020, Complementary Therapies in MedicineCitation Excerpt :Motor disorders in upper limbs caused by PD may lead to changes in the dexterity pattern and loss of control of movements such as reaching and grasping. This may slow the execution speed of sequential and bimanual tasks, as well as asymmetrical tasks that require greater motor complexity [1,8,10,19–21], supporting the need to focus on upper limbs to manage these changes. Handgrip strength may also be affected in PD, resulting in significant functional decline for upper limbs [22].
Construct validity of the 9-Hole Peg Test and Purdue Pegboard Test in people with mild to moderately severe Parkinson's disease
2020, Physiotherapy (United Kingdom)Reliability, validity and responsiveness of the squares test for manual dexterity in people with Parkinson's disease
2019, Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit on the authors or on any organization with which the authors are associated.