Pain Characteristics in Egyptian Patients with Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract Background Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the most common movement disorder. The clinical findings of PD consist of cardinal motor features in addition to non-motor symptoms (NMS). Pain is one of the most common NMS in PD. The classification of pain in PD is still a matter of debate. However, in 2015, the King's Parkinson's disease Pain Scale (KPPS) was introduced as the first disease specific scale to assess pain in PD. Objectives To investigate the prevalence and severity of different types of pain in PD patients. Patients and Methods This cross-sectional observational study was conducted on 45 PD patients recruited from the movement disorder outpatient clinic at Ain Shams University Hospitals in which the KPPS was obtained from all participants. Results All the PD patients reported at least 1 type of pain. Regarding the number of pain types experienced per patient, 13.33% of patients had only 1 type of pain, 8.89% reported 2 types, and the majority (77.77%) had 3 types or more. Fluctuation- related pain was the most common (75.56%), followed by musculoskeletal pain (73.33%), nocturnal pain (68.89%), chronic pain (66.67%), edema/swelling (55.56%), orofacial pain (46.67%), then finally radicular pain (40%). The mean total KPPS score (reflecting both severity and frequency) in those patients was 39.73 ± 25.92 (range 1 – 98). Conclusion PD patients suffer from highly prevalent and severe forms of different types of pain. Therefore, proper assessment and management of different types of pain is essential for better care and QoL of people with PD. KPPS is an easy and fast tool to assess pain severity, frequency, and its different types.