Movement Disorder Society‐sponsored revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS‐UPDRS): Scale presentation and clinimetric testing results

Abstract

Abstract We present a clinimetric assessment of the Movement Disorder Society (MDS)‐sponsored revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS‐UPDRS). The MDS‐UDPRS Task Force revised and expanded the UPDRS using recommendations from a published critique. The MDS‐UPDRS has four parts, namely, I: Non‐motor Experiences of Daily Living; II: Motor Experiences of Daily Living; III: Motor Examination; IV: Motor Complications. Twenty questions are completed by the patient/caregiver. Item‐specific instructions and an appendix of complementary additional scales are provided. Movement disorder specialists and study coordinators administered the UPDRS (55 items) and MDS‐UPDRS (65 items) to 877 English speaking (78% non‐Latino Caucasian) patients with Parkinson's disease from 39 sites. We compared the two scales using correlative techniques and factor analysis. The MDS‐UPDRS showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.79–0.93 across parts) and correlated with the original UPDRS (ρ = 0.96). MDS‐UPDRS across‐part correlations ranged from 0.22 to 0.66. Reliable factor structures for each part were obtained (comparative fit index > 0.90 for each part), which support the use of sum scores for each part in preference to a total score of all parts. The combined clinimetric results of this study support the validity of the MDS‐UPDRS for rating PD. © 2008 Movement Disorder Society

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Affiliated Institutions

• Rush University Medical Center US
• University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School US
• University of Illinois Chicago US
• Sorbonne Université FR
• University College London GB
• Columbia University US
• Instituto de Salud Carlos III ES
• University of Rochester US
• Weston College GB
• University of Toronto CA
• Innsbruck Medical University AT
• Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital FR
• University of Pennsylvania US
• Hospital de Sant Pau ES
• Philipps University of Marburg DE
• Pharmacochimie et Pharmacologie pour le Développement FR
• Leiden University NL
• Medical University of South Carolina US
• University of Lisbon PT
• Wayne State University US
• Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai US
• Baylor College of Medicine US
• Biomedical Research Networking Center on Neurodegenerative Diseases ES

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