Progression of MDS‐UPDRS Scores Over Five Years in De Novo Parkinson Disease from the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative Cohort

Background The Movement Disorder Society‐Sponsored Revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS‐UPDRS) is a commonly used tool to measure progression in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Longitudinal changes in MDS‐UPDRS scores in patients with de novo PD have not been established. The objective of this study was to determine progression rates of MDS‐UPDRS scores in de novo PD. Methods In total, 362 participants from the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative, a multicenter, longitudinal cohort study of de novo PD, were included. Longitudinal progression of MDS‐UPDRS total and subscale scores were modeled using mixed model regression. Results MDS‐UPDRS scores increased in a linear fashion over 5 years in patients with de novo PD. MDS‐UPDRS total scores increased an estimated 4.7 points per year, Part I scores increased 0.92 points per year, Part II scores increased 0.99 points per year, and Part III scores increased 2.4 points per year. Conclusions The expected average progression of MDS‐UPDRS scores in patients with de novo PD from this study can assist in clinical monitoring and provide comparative data for the detection of disease modification in treatment trials.