Objective: The Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson’s Disease–Cognition (SCOPA-Cog) was developed to assess cognition in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). In this study, we aimed to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Korean version of the SCOPACog (K-SCOPA-Cog). Methods: We enrolled 129 PD patients with movement disorders from 31 clinics in South Korea. The original version of the SCOPA-Cog was translated into Korean using the translation-retranslation method. The test–retest method with an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient were used to assess reliability. Spearman’s rank correlation analysis with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment-Korean version (MOCA-K) and the Korean Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE) were used to assess concurrent validity. Results: The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.797, and the ICC was 0.887. Spearman’s rank correlation analysis revealed a significant correlation with the K-MMSE and MOCA-K scores (r = 0.546 and r = 0.683, respectively). Conclusion Our results demonstrate that the K-SCOPA-Cog has good reliability and validity.

Background: Wallenberg’s syndrome (WS) is caused by dorsal lateral medulla infarction. Clinical symptoms include hoarseness, dysphagia, sensory disturbance, vertigo, ataxia, and Horner’s syndrome. Recently, lateral difference of body surface temperature (BST) has been reported as a symptom of WS, resulting from the disturbances of the sympathetic nerve tract. Although sensory dysfunction is the major symptoms of WS, there is no evidence that BST influences these symptoms. We sought to evaluate the relationship between BST and sensory symptoms in WS using infrared thermography. Methods: Patients with WS within 7 days of symptom onset from June 2018 to December 2020 were enrolled. Infrared thermography was conducted at 7±30 days and 90±30 days after the onset of stroke. Laterality of BST was defined as being positive when macroscopically different and discrepancy >0.5°C in thermography. Results: The final analyses included 12 patients with a mean age of 59.9±11.85 years. Sensory symptoms in nine patients were most often described as numbness (56%), cold (44%), burning (33%), and heaviness (11%). Of these, burning symptoms lasted at 100%, cold 75%, and numbness 50% during 3 months follow-up. All patients with sensory dysfunction showed lateral BST differences. The BST laterality persisted in patients with remaining sensory dysfunction at 3 months follow-up. Conclusions All patients with sensory dysfunction in WS showed lateral BST differences which was detected with thermography. Laterality of BST and sensory dysfunction in WS might be associated with the disturbance of the connecting pathway of skin blood flow descending from the rostral ventrolateral medulla.

Background: Wallenberg’s syndrome (WS) is caused by dorsal lateral medulla infarction. Clinical symptoms include hoarseness, dysphagia, sensory disturbance, vertigo, ataxia, and Horner’s syndrome. Recently, lateral difference of body surface temperature (BST) has been reported as a symptom of WS, resulting from the disturbances of the sympathetic nerve tract. Although sensory dysfunction is the major symptoms of WS, there is no evidence that BST influences these symptoms. We sought to evaluate the relationship between BST and sensory symptoms in WS using infrared thermography. Methods: Patients with WS within 7 days of symptom onset from June 2018 to December 2020 were enrolled. Infrared thermography was conducted at 7±30 days and 90±30 days after the onset of stroke. Laterality of BST was defined as being positive when macroscopically different and discrepancy >0.5°C in thermography. Results: The final analyses included 12 patients with a mean age of 59.9±11.85 years. Sensory symptoms in nine patients were most often described as numbness (56%), cold (44%), burning (33%), and heaviness (11%). Of these, burning symptoms lasted at 100%, cold 75%, and numbness 50% during 3 months follow-up. All patients with sensory dysfunction showed lateral BST differences. The BST laterality persisted in patients with remaining sensory dysfunction at 3 months follow-up. Conclusions All patients with sensory dysfunction in WS showed lateral BST differences which was detected with thermography. Laterality of BST and sensory dysfunction in WS might be associated with the disturbance of the connecting pathway of skin blood flow descending from the rostral ventrolateral medulla.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of peripheral neuropathy (PNP) and its related serum metabolites in de novo patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). PNP is a type of frequent comorbidity in PD. Although the administration of levodopa has been described as a presumptive risk factor in its development, few studies have explored its effect on unmedicated PD patients. Materials and Methods: This study included 105 drug-naïve de novo PD patients. A standardized nerve conduction study (NCS) technique was used to evaluate motor or sensory neuropathy. We analyzed serologic tests including metabolic markers of vitamin B12, homocysteine (Hcy), and uric acid (UA). Results: We found abnormal nerve conduction velocity findings in 24 out of 105 total patients. Among them, 20 patients showed a type of combined motor-sensory, while three were a type of pure sensory and one was a pure motor. Nine patients had carpal tunnel syndrome. PD with PNP group demonstrated higher serum levels of Hcy and UA compared to PD without PNP group. Conclusion Our data demonstrated a potential role of Hcy and UA on PNP in de novo patients with PD. These results suggest the contribution of the inherent metabolic pathway in deterioration of the peripheral nervous system in PD.

Background: and Purpose: The Movement Disorder Society-Sponsored Revision of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) is widely used for estimating the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Translation and validation of the MDS-UPDRS is necessary for non-English speaking countries and regions. The aim of this study was to validate the Korean version of the MDS-UPDRS. Methods: Altogether, 362 patients in 19 centers were recruited for this study. We translated the MDS-UPDRS to Korean using the translation-back translation method and cognitive pretesting. We performed both confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses to validate the scale.We calculated the comparative fit index (CFI) for confirmatory factor analysis, and used unweighted least squares for exploratory factor analysis. Results: The CFI was higher than 0.90 for all parts of the scale. Exploratory factor analysis also showed that the Korean MDS-UPDRS has the same number of factors in each part as the English version. Conclusions The Korean MDS-UPDRS has the same overall structure as the English MDSUPDRS. Our translated scale can be designated as the official Korean MDS-UPDRS.

OBJECTIVE: Cognitive impairment is one of the nonmotor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD), and olfactory dysfunction is used as a marker to detect premotor stages of PD. Serum uric acid (sUA) levels have been found to be a risk factor for PD. Our objective in this study was to examine whether sUA levels are associated with cognitive changes and olfactory dysfunction in early de novo PD patients. METHODS: The study participants included 196 de novo PD patients. We assessed cognitive function by the Korean versions of the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and assessed olfactory function by the Korean version of the Sniffin' Sticks test. RESULTS: The mean sUA level was 4.7 mg/dL and was significantly lower in women than in men. Cognitive scores were lower in women, suggesting that sUA levels were related to cognitive function. The olfactory functions were not related to sUA level but were clearly associated with cognitive scores. Olfactory threshold, odor discrimination, and odor identification were all significantly related to cognitive scores. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that lower sUA levels were associated with cognitive impairment, not olfactory dysfunction, in de novo PD patients. This finding suggests that UA is neuroprotective as an antioxidant in the cognitive function of PD patients.
Cognition Disorders ; Cognition ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Odors ; Parkinson Disease ; Risk Factors ; Smell ; Uric Acid

“Clinical Practice Guideline for Stroke Rehabilitation in Korea 2016” is the 3rd edition of clinical practice guideline (CPG) for stroke rehabilitation in Korea, which updates the 2nd edition published in 2014. Forty-two specialists in stroke rehabilitation from 21 universities and 4 rehabilitation hospitals and 4 consultants participated in this update. The purpose of this CPG is to provide optimum practical guidelines for stroke rehabilitation teams to make a decision when they manage stroke patients and ultimately, to help stroke patients obtain maximal functional recovery and return to the society. The recent two CPGs from Canada (2015) and USA (2016) and articles that were published following the 2nd edition were used to develop this 3rd edition of CPG for stroke rehabilitation in Korea. The chosen articles' level of evidence and grade of recommendation were decided by the criteria of Scotland (2010) and the formal consensus was derived by the nominal group technique. The levels of evidence range from 1++ to 4 and the grades of recommendation range from A to D. Good Practice Point was recommended as best practice based on the clinical experience of the guideline developmental group. The draft of the developed CPG was reviewed by the experts group in the public hearings and then revised. “Clinical Practice Guideline for Stroke Rehabilitation in Korea 2016” consists of ‘Chapter 1; Introduction of Stroke Rehabilitation’, ‘Chapter 2; Rehabilitation for Stroke Syndrome, ‘Chapter 3; Rehabilitation for Returning to the Society’, and ‘Chapter 4; Advanced Technique for Stroke Rehabilitation’. “Clinical Practice Guideline for Stroke Rehabilitation in Korea 2016” will provide direction and standardization for acute, subacute and chronic stroke rehabilitation in Korea.
Canada ; Consensus ; Consultants ; Humans ; Korea* ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; Rehabilitation* ; Scotland ; Specialization ; Stroke*

OBJECTIVE: Autonomic symptoms are commonly observed in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and often limit the activities of daily living. The Scale for Outcomes in Parkinson's disease-Autonomic (SCOPA-AUT) was developed to evaluate and quantify autonomic symptoms in PD. The goal of this study was to translate the original SCOPA-AUT, which was written in English, into Korean and to evaluate its reliability and validity for Korean PD patients. METHODS: For the translation, the following processes were performed: forward translation, backward translation, expert review, pretest of the pre-final version and development of the final Korean version of SCOPA-AUT (K-SCOPA-AUT). In total, 127 patients with PD from 31 movement disorder clinics of university-affiliated hospitals in Korea were enrolled in this study. All patients were assessed using the K-SCOPA-AUT and other motor, non-motor, and quality of life scores. Test-retest reliability for the K-SCOPA-AUT was assessed over a time interval of 10−14 days. RESULTS: The internal consistency and reliability of the K-SCOPA-AUT was 0.727 as measured by the mean Cronbach's α-coefficient. The test-retest correlation reliability was 0.859 by the Guttman split-half coefficient. The total K-SCOPA-AUT score showed a positive correlation with other non-motor symptoms [the Korean version of non-motor symptom scale (K-NMSS)], activities of daily living (Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale part II) and quality of life [the Korean version of Parkinson's Disease Quality of Life 39 (K-PDQ39)]. CONCLUSION: The K-SCOPA-AUT had good reliability and validity for the assessment of autonomic dysfunction in Korean PD patients. Autonomic symptom severities were associated with many other motor and non-motor impairments and influenced quality of life.
Activities of Daily Living ; Humans ; Korea ; Movement Disorders ; Parkinson Disease ; Quality of Life ; Reproducibility of Results