Table 2 Demographic, clinical, cognitive, heart rate variability (HRV), REMs interval, and gait variables compared between medication groups

From: REM density in Parkinson’s disease: association with motor, cognitive, autonomic function, and dopaminergic medication

 

Drug-naïve (n = 14)

Evening slow-release medication (n = 16)

Daytime medicationa (n = 44)

p-value

Demographics and clinical variables

Total sleep time (h)

5.84 ± 1.10

4.87 ± 1.37

5.20 ± 1.07

0.056

ESS

7.92 ± 3.18

9.80 ± 4.80c

6.37 ± 3.24

0.027

Arousal index

9.37 ± 4.43

11.65 ± 7.83

10.59 ± 6.60

0.971

Age (years)

63.93 ± 8.53

65.44 ± 7.87

66.98 ± 8.31

0.352

Female gender n (%)

5 (36%)

2 (13%)

17 (39%)

0.154

RBD N(%)

7/ (50%)

8/ (50%)

16/ (36%)

0.506

PD duration (years)

0.43 ± 1.12

5.69 ± 4.03b

3.75 ± 3.52b

<0.001

MDS-UPDRS III

14.0 ± 6.68

22.75 ± 9.61b

23.82 ± 11.02b

0.005

Bradykinesia score

0.57 ± 0.31

0.92 ± 0.52

0.95 ± 0.49b

0.029

HY stage n 1/2/3

8/5/1

4/8/4

16/16/12

0.328

LEDD (mg)

–

712.19 ± 345.06

340.75 ± 300.56

<0.001

Levodopa N (%)

–

13 (82%)

24 (54%)

0.060

MAO-B inhibitors N (%)

–

11 (69%)

29 (66%)

0.836

Dopamine agonist N (%)

–

5 (32%)

9 (20%)

0.382

Amantadine N (%)

–

5 (32%)

6 (14%)

0.119

Rapid eye movements (REMs)

REM density (n/min)

4.01 ± 1.68

6.61 ± 2.99b,c

4.61 ± 2.93

0.041

REMs interval (sec)

18.2 ± 8.9

12.96 ± 7.89

17.53 ± 11.36

0.273

REMs std

34.4 ± 15.5

24.92 ± 11.41

30.67 ± 17.45

0.346

REMs CV (%)

208.6 ± 54.6

211.44 ± 50.27

185.92 ± 38.44

0.220

Cognition

MoCA

25.00 ± 3.31

24.06 ± 3.34

24.16 ± 3.37

0.826

TMT-A (sec)

57.50 ± 28.60

76.33 ± 45.35

70.93 ± 40.60

0.255

TMT-B (sec)

113.29 ± 60.76

127.27 ± 63.07

123.80 ± 65.79

0.782

Autonomic function (HRV)d

n = 10

n = 9

n = 33

 

NN (ms)

981.00 ± 147.56

919.11 ± 130.84

1023.06 ± 205.46

0.311

SDNN

29.22 ± 10.84

43.17 ± 35.47

38.88 ± 22.21

0.471

LF (nu)

56.51 ± 23.49

69.68 ± 26.38

61.80 ± 17.89

0.279

HF (nu)

43.38 ± 23.35

30.32 ± 26.38

38.20 ± 17.89

0.279

LF/HF ratio

2.60 ± 2.90

4.83 ± 4.29

2.32 ± 1.80

0.316

Gait and mobility

n = 11

n = 15

n = 41

 

Gait speed ST (m/sec)

1.33 ± 0.29

1.23 ± 0.23

1.32 ± 0.27

0.549

Step length ST (cm)

71.3 ± 13.7

65.82 ± 8.18

69.60 ± 11.08

0.479

Stride time ST (sec)

1.08 ± 0.05

1.09 ± 0.14

1.06 ± 0.09

0.575

Stride time CV ST (%)

2.50 ± 0.66

2.79 ± 1.19

3.13 ± ± 1.24

0.317

Gait speed DT (m/sec)

1.22 ± 0.24

1.04 ± 0.19

1.10 ± 0.28

0.226

Step length DT (cm)

69.3 ± 11.7

59.10 ± 6.60

62.03 ± 12.23

0.096

Stride time DT (sec)

1.18 ± 0.16

1.17 ± 0.15

1.18 ± 0.14

0.972

Stride time CV DT (%)

3.77 ± 2.31

4.22 ± 1.25

4.45 ± 1.93

0.264

TUG time ST (sec)

10.0 ± 1.8

11.97 ± 2.47

11.32 ± 2.19

0.094

TUG turn time ST (sec)

1.87 ± 0.47

1.87 ± 0.52

2.02 ± 0.53

0.505

TUG time DT (sec)

12.2 ± 2.4

14.95 ± 4.06

13.99 ± 3.88

0.273

TUG turn time DT (sec)

2.18 ± 0.52

2.21 ± 0.89

2.25 ± 0.64

0.871

  1. Significant p-values (p < 0.05) are highlighted in bold for clarity.
  2. Gait data were available for n = 67 participants (n = 11 drug-naïve, n = 15 evening slow-release, n = 41 daytime medication). HRV data were available for n = 52 participants (n = 10 drug-naïve, n = 9 evening slow-release, n = 33 daytime medication).
  3. RBD REM Sleep Behavior Disorder, LEDD levodopa equivalent daily dose, TMT Trail Making Test, HRV heart rate variability, NN normal-to-normal heartbeat interval, SDNN standard deviation of NN, MoCA Montreal Cognitive Assessment, LF low frequency, HF high frequency, CV coefficient of variation, nu normalized units, ST single task, DT dual task, TUG Timed Up and Go.
  4. aThe daytime medication group included patients on diurnal or immediate-release evening medication.
  5. bCompared to drug-naïve.
  6. ccompared to daytime medication.
  7. dFor HRV analysis, a single, artifact-free five-minute PSG segment during REM sleep was selected and analysed for each participant.
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