Self-reported autonomic dysfunction could be a predictive marker for sarcopenia in Parkinson’s disease.

Publication date: Jun 24, 2025

Autonomic dysfunction and motor symptoms are prevalent in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Motor symptoms influence sarcopenia; however, the association between sarcopenia and non-motor symptoms, particularly autonomic dysfunction, remains unclear. This study determined the effect of autonomic dysfunction on sarcopenia in patients with PD. Consecutive patients with PD (Hoehn and Yahr stages 1-3) without apparent dementia were screened. The Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson’s Disease-Autonomic Questionnaire (SCOPA-AUT) was utilized to evaluate the severity of autonomic dysfunction. Sarcopenia was assessed using the 2019 Asian Diagnostic Criteria. This study examined whether the SCOPA-AUT and its domains were associated with sarcopenia and used receiver operating characteristic analysis to evaluate their predictive performance. Of the 124 patients (76 [61%] men; median age, 68 years) included, sarcopenia was identified in 31 (25%). Poisson regression analysis with a robust variance estimator showed that a higher SCOPA-AUT score is associated with sarcopenia (prevalence ratio 1. 078, 95% CI 1. 034-1. 122, p 

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