Knowledge of Parkinson’s disease among non-PD specialists: a web-based survey in South China

作者：Shaohua Lyu, Zhe Li, Zhenhui Mao, Jingbo Sun, Chunye Zheng, Qiaozhen Su · 发表于：Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.3389/fnagi.2025.1488009 · 研究领域：Parkinson's Disease Mechanisms and Treatments、Voice and Speech Disorders、Neurological disorders and treatments

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a prevalent, disabling neurodegenerative disorder. Early diagnosis and treatment of PD remains challenging due to the absence of definitive diagnostic tests and the non-specificity of its clinical manifestations. Initial consultations for PD symptoms often involve specialists who are not specifically trained in PD. Consequently, it is imperative to assess the general knowledge regarding PD among these specialists to develop optimal educational strategies and enhance early recognition and diagnosis of PD. Methods: (https://www.wjx.cn/) among physicians not specializing in PD in Guangdong Province, China. Results: A total of 312 respondents, working in 28 diverse departments across 64 hospitals of three different categories, were eligible for data analysis. Notably, 95.2% of the respondents were aware of rest tremor as a motor symptom, yet only 76.9% recognized bradykinesia as a motor symptom. Regarding non-motor symptoms, erectile dysfunction, urinary dysfunction, restless legs, olfactory loss, orthostatic hypotension, rapid eye movement behavior disorder (RBD), lower back pain and diaphoresis, were recognized by less than 50% of the respondents. Additionally, with the exception of subthreshold parkinsonism or abnormal quantitative motor testing, prodromal symptoms such as excessive daytime somnolence, depression (± anxiety), olfactory loss, urinary dysfunction, RBD, and constipation were recognized by 36.5-48.7% of the respondents. Firs...