UPDRS meaning in Medical ?

Answer: What is Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale mean?

The unified Parkinson's disease rating scale (UPDRS) is used to follow the longitudinal course of Parkinson's disease. The UPD rating scale is the most commonly used scale in the clinical study of Parkinson's disease.

The UPDRS is made up of these sections:

Part I: evaluation of mentation, behavior, and moodPart II: self-evaluation of the activities of daily life (ADLs) including speech, swallowing, handwriting, dressing, hygiene, falling, salivating, turning in bed, walking, and cutting foodPart III: clinician-scored monitored motor evaluationPart IV: complications of therapyPart V: Hoehn and Yahr staging of severity of Parkinson's diseasePart VI: Schwab and England ADL scale

These are evaluated by interview and clinical observation. Some sections require multiple grades assigned to each extremity.

Clinicians and researchers alike use the UPDRS and the motor section in particular to follow the progression of a person's Parkinson's disease. Scientific researchers use it to measure benefits from a given therapy in a more unified and accepted rating system. Neurologists also use it in clinical practice to follow the progression of their patients' symptoms in a more objective manner.

Following the UPDRS scores over time provides insight into the patient's disease progression. For instance Michael J. Fox's symptoms started with a slight tremor, so his motor score would have been less than 10. For most patients, the "mentation, behavior and mood" scores increase later in the disease, but a subset exists for whom those symptoms develop early on.

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