Assessment of response fluctuations in Parkinson's disease by ambulatory wrist activity monitoring.

The aim of this study was to examine the influence of response fluctuations with dyskinesia on the 24-h motor activity pattern and measures of diurnal and nocturnal activity and immobility. Motor activity was recorded during 5 successive days in 5 patients with advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) suffering from severe response fluctuations with dyskinesia, as well as in 10 PD patients with a stable levodopa response and 10 healthy subjects. The 24-h motor activity pattern of the patients with response fluctuations provides insight into the relationship between the therapeutic regimen and 1) the frequency and duration of "on" and "off" periods, 2) the severity of the dyskinesias, and 3) the degree of sleep disruption. In accordance with the severity of their motor fluctuations, patients with response fluctuations showed a large intra- and interindividual variability of diurnal motor activity measures. Overall, the nocturnal motor activity measures in the patients with response fluctuations indicated a severely disturbed sleep when compared with the two control groups. Factors as simplicity and the potential to record unrestrained motor activity for several days continuously in all settings, make activity monitoring a welcomed acquisition in the assessment of response fluctuations in PD.