FROM: Women's Health Weekly via NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net January 20, 2005 SECTION: EXPANDED REPORTING; Pg. 120 HEADLINE: PARKINSON DISEASE; Questionnaire is reliable and valid for evaluating autonomic dysfunction The SCOPA-AUT questionnaire provides an assessment of autonomic dysfunction in Parkinson disease. According to published research from the Netherlands, "We developed a questionnaire to assess autonomic symptoms in patients with Parkinson disease (PD) and evaluated its reliability and validity." M. Visser and colleagues of Leiden University explained, "Based on the results of a postal survey in 46 PD patients, 21 multiple system atrophy patients, and 8 movement disorders specialists, items were included according to their frequency, burden, and clinical relevance. The questionnaire was evaluated in 140 PD patients and 100 controls, and test-retest reliability was established in a sample of 55 PD patients." "The SCOPA-AUT consists of 25 items assessing the following regions: gastrointestinal (7), urinary (6), cardiovascular (3), thermoregulatory (4), pupillomotor (1), and sexual (2 items for men and 2 items for women) dysfunction. Test-retest reliability was good. Autonomic problems increased significantly with increasing disease severity for all autonomic regions, except sexual dysfunction," the researchers reported. They concluded, "...SCOPA-AUT is a reliable and valid questionnaire that evaluates autonomic dysfunction in PD." Visser and colleagues published their findings in Movement Disorders (Assessment of autonomic dysfunction in Parkinson's disease: The SCOPA-AUT. Mov Disord, 2004;19(11):1306-1312). Additional information can be obtained by contacting M. Visser, Leiden University, Medical Center, Department of Neurology, K5 Q92, POB 9600, NL-2300 RC Leiden, the Netherlands. [log in to unmask] The publisher of the journal Movement Disorders can be contacted at: Wiley-Liss Division of John Wiley & Sons Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn