Effects Of Physical Activity Levels On Parkinson's Disease Motor And Non-motor Symptoms And Quality Of Life In Individuals With Parkinson's Disease

BACKGROUND: Fox Insight (FI) is an online longitudinal clinical study platform for individuals with and without Parkinson's disease (PD) which collects patient-reported outcomes and genetic data. Utilizing the FI platform offers the advantage of increased diversity and larger sample size, which can significantly enhance statistical power in research studies. PURPOSE: The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of physical activity levels on motor and non-motor PD symptoms and quality of life (QOL) in people with PD. In addition, we aim to examine the potential predictors of physical activity levels using the FI dataset. METHODS:A total of 1,288 individuals with PD completed demographic questionnaires, the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE), Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale 2 (UPDRS-2), motor screen questionnaire, Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire-8 (PDQ-8), Geriatric Depression Scale Short Form (GDS-S), Penn Parkinson's Daily Activities Questionnaire-15 (PDAQ-15), and EuroQol-Visual Analog Scale (EQ-VAS) questionnaires. Participants were categorized into four groups based on PASE score: low physical activity (LP; < 25th %), moderate-low physical activity (MLP; 26th to 50th %), moderate-high physical activity (MHP; 51st to 75th %), and high physical activity (HP; >75th %). One-way ANOVA and multiple linear regression were used for statistical analysis. The alpha was set at 0.05 RESULTS:One-way ANOVA showed significant differences between groups for UPDRS-2 (F = 72.210, P < 0.001; LP > MLP > MHP, HP), Motor Screen (F = 37.878, P < 0.001; LP > MLP > MHP, HP), EQ-VAS (F = 32. 940, P < 0.001; LP < MLP < MHP, HP), GDS Mood (F = 15.733, P < 0.001; LP < MLP, MHP < HP), PDQ-8 (F = 40.557, P < 0.001; LP > MLP > MHP, HP), and PDAQ-15 (F = 35.647, P < 0.001; LP < MLP < MHP, HP) variables. Multiple linear regression showed that UPDRS-2 was the strongest and significant predictor of physical activity level in individuals with PD (β = -1.776, t = -6.826, p < 0.001, CI: -2.287, -1.266), followed by body mass index, age, and EQ-VAS CONCLUSIONS:This study, using FI data, underscores the positive impact of physical activity on individuals with PD by revealing that higher physical activity levels are associated with improved both PD motor and non-motor symptoms, enhanced QOL and reduced depression in PD population