Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients are known to suffer from subtle cognitive and balance deficits from the early stages although they usually manifest in advanced stages. Postural instability (PI) has been correlated with slower information processing speed. Simple reaction time (SRT) tasks can be used to measure the speed of information processing. The main objective of this study was to examine the usefulness of SRT as a valid predictor of balance in PD, thus providing a simple and complementary assessment method. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 52 PD patients without dementia who were evaluated for balance using the pull test (PT) maneuver and Biodex® limits of stability (LOS). In addition, a reaction time task was used to measure processing speed. Correlation and linear regression analyses were performed. Results: The performance of SRT tasks was correlated with the evaluation of LOS% and PT, suggesting that the SRT may be a predictor of balance performance. Longer reaction time and poorer postural stability were also associated with disease duration but not with age. Conclusions: Poor performance in a simple reaction task can predict altered PI and can complement staging and evaluation in PD patients.
Neurodegener Dis

中文翻译：

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非痴呆帕金森病患者的计算机化简单反应时间和平衡

背景：众所周知，帕金森病 (PD) 患者从早期阶段就患有轻微的认知和平衡缺陷，尽管他们通常在晚期表现出来。姿势不稳定性 (PI) 与较慢的信息处理速度相关。简单反应时间 (SRT) 任务可用于衡量信息处理的速度。本研究的主要目的是检验 SRT 作为 PD 平衡的有效预测指标的有效性，从而提供一种简单且互补的评估方法。方法：这项横断面研究包括 52 名没有痴呆的 PD 患者，他们使用拉力测试 (PT) 操作和 Biodex® 稳定性极限 (LOS) 评估平衡。此外，还使用反应时间任务来衡量处理速度。进行了相关性和线性回归分析。结果： SRT 任务的表现与 LOS% 和 PT 的评估相关，表明 SRT 可能是平衡表现的预测指标。较长的反应时间和较差的姿势稳定性也与疾病持续时间有关，但与年龄无关。结论：在简单的反应任务中表现不佳可以预测 PI 的改变，并且可以补充 PD 患者的分期和评估。
神经变性病