Validation of the freezing of gait questionnaire in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Abstract

To revalidate the Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (FOG-Q), patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) were randomly assigned to receive rasagiline (1 mg/day) (n = 150), entacapone (200 mg with each dose of levodopa) (n = 150), or placebo (n = 154). Patients were assessed at baseline and after 10 weeks using the FOG-Q, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39). FOG-Q dimensionality, test-retest reliability, and internal reliability were examined. Convergent and divergent validities were assessed by correlating FOG-Q with UPDRS, BDI, and PDQ-39. Comparisons between FOG-Q item 3 and UPDRS item 14 were also made. Principal component analysis indicated that FOG-Q measures a single dimension. Test-retest reliability and internal reliability of FOG-Q score was high. FOG-Q was best correlated to items of the UPDRS relating to walking, general motor issues, and mobility. Correlations between baseline and endpoint suggested that FOG-Q item 3 is at least as reliable as UPDRS item 14. At baseline, 85.9% of patients were identified as "Freezers" using FOG-Q item 3 (> or =1) and 44.1% using UPDRS item 14 (> or =1) (P < 0.001). FOG-Q was a reliable tool for the assessment of treatment intervention. FOG-Q item 3 was effective as a screening question for the presence of FOG.

• Authors: Nir Giladi, Joseph Tal, Tali Azulay, Oliver Rascol, David J Brooks, Eldad Melamed, Wolfgang Oertel, Werner H Poewe, Fabrizio Stocchi, Eduardo Tolosa
• Journal: Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society (Mov Disord) Vol. 24 Issue 5 Pg. 655-61 (Apr 15 2009) ISSN: 1531-8257 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 19127595 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, Validation Study)

Chemical References

• Antiparkinson Agents
• Catechols
• Indans
• Neuroprotective Agents
• Nitriles
• rasagiline
• Levodopa
• entacapone

Topics

• Aged
• Analysis of Variance
• Antiparkinson Agents (adverse effects, therapeutic use)
• Catechols (therapeutic use)
• Double-Blind Method
• Female
• Freezing Reaction, Cataleptic (drug effects, physiology)
• Gait Disorders, Neurologic (chemically induced, diagnosis, drug therapy, physiopathology)
• Humans
• Indans (therapeutic use)
• Levodopa (adverse effects)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Neuroprotective Agents (therapeutic use)
• Nitriles (therapeutic use)
• Parkinson Disease (drug therapy)
• Principal Component Analysis
• Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
• Reproducibility of Results
• Severity of Illness Index
• Statistics as Topic
• Surveys and Questionnaires