Comparison of causes and manifestations of pain in Parkinson’s disease patients to healthy controls

Objective: To assess the manifestations of pain in PD (Parkinson’s disease ) patients versus healthy controls.Methods: Data on pain was collected from 127 patients and an equivalent number of controls using two self-report questionnaires: the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) and a custom-made questionnaire focusing on specific details not covered by the former. Additional analysis was conducted within the patient group only to analyze the potential effects of factors relating to PD on the various measure of interest relating to pain.Results: Parkinson disease patients had lower odds of experiencing pain in both arms (ExpB=0.061, p<0.001), greater probability of demonstrating pain in both legs (ExpB=2.409, p=0.024), and an increase difficulty in localizing pain (ExpB=2.958, p=0.030). There was no relationship between duration of pain (F=12.414, p=0.001) or arthritis (ExpB=0.724, p=0.309) and pain in PD. The likelihood of experiencing nagging pain (ExpB=3.533, p=0.028), but not other forms, was much more strongly associated with PD patients than normal controls. When all other types of pain were controlled for, pain in PD is more likely associated with akathesic pain (ExpB=9.046, p<0.001).Conclusion: There are major differences between pain in PD patients and pain in normal controls, which could have implications on the pathophysiology and adequate management of pain in different populations.