Pain in Parkinson’s Disease: Fluctuation and Impact on Quality of Life

Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic, pro-gressive neurodegenerative disorder known for its motor and non-motor symptoms. Among the non-motor symptoms, pain is highly prevalent, significantly affecting patients’ quality of life. Pain in PD can manifest in various forms, including mus-culoskeletal, dystonic, and neuropathic pain. Despite its high prevalence, pain in PD is often under-recognized and under-treated, necessitating further exploration of its characteristics and impact on quality of life. This study aims to assess the prev-alence, types, and fluctuation of pain in PD patients and their relationship with motor and non-motor symptoms. Patients and Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted on 40 PD patients at Movement Disorders clinic in Ain Shams University. Data collection included demographic characteristics, medical history, and evaluation using standard-ized scales such as the King’s Parkinson’s Disease Pain Scale (KPPS), Movement Disorder Society–Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS), Non-Motor Symptoms Scale (NMSS), and the Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39). The correlation between these scales and the severi-ty of pain was analyzed. Results: The study revealed a statistically significant cor-relation between KPPS and the wearing-off phenomenon (R=0.349, p=0.027), highlighting the association between motor fluctuations and pain severity. However, no significant correlations were found between KPPS and other scales like NMSS, Pittsburg Sleep Quality index (PSQI), MDS-UPDRS, or PDQ-39 summary index. Pain was highly prevalent among PD patients, with musculoskeletal and fluctuation-related pain being the most common types. Conclusion: Pain is a frequent and impactful non-motor symptom in Parkinson’s disease that substantially affects pa-tients’ quality of life. The correlation between pain and motor fluctuations such as wearing off suggests that optimizing dopa-minergic therapy could help manage pain in PD. Further stud-ies are recommended to explore the management strategies for pain in PD and its complex interaction with other non-motor symptoms.