Instruments for holistic assessment of Parkinson’s disease

Assessment of Parkinson’s disease is a complex matter as a consequence of the variety of manifestations and complications that can be present in a patient. Although a really holistic assessment is probably a utopia, a comprehensive evaluation is possible using a combination of measures completed by health professionals, patients and/or caregivers. In PD, main domains requiring assessment include motor impairment, motor complications, non-motor symptoms, disability, and patient-reported outcomes. Such scales like the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale and the battery of Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson’s disease (SCOPA) provide a wide information on the most relevant aspects of the disease. Hoehn and Yahr staging, global impression, and quality of life measures furnish summarized whole evaluations and comprehensive non-motor symptom assessments help to identify and evaluate this kind of manifestations. This article shows a pragmatic review of common instruments (rating scales and questionnaires) usable for a comprehensive assessment of PD and provides information about sources for guiding the selection of measures and outcome analyses.