Comparison of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale and the Short Parkinson's Evaluation Scale in patients with Parkinson's disease after levodopa loading.

The Short Parkinson's Evaluation Scale has been compiled and validated previously (Clinical Neuropharmacology, 1997). In the present study, we have assessed and compared the motor scoring of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale and the Short Parkinson's Evaluation Scale in 23 patients (mean age, 61.8 years) with Parkinson's disease. Patients were 12 hours off medication at the beginning of the series. They were then given levodopa, 125 mg and 250 mg, on different days and were evaluated each 30 minutes for 2 hours. In addition, patients' motor skills (finger tapping and walking velocity) were measured at each time. Analysis of variance with repeated measures was applied. The results presented show that both scales have the same ability to measure levodopa-dose effect within time. In addition, Spearman's correlation coefficients showed a negative correlation between finger tapping and upper-limb impairment and a positive correlation between walking velocity and lower-limb impairment in both scales. In summary, the present results suggest that Short Parkinson's Evaluation Scale is a useful tool in assessing the effect of medication, having the advantage of being easier and quicker.