The movement disorder society-unified Parkinson’s disease rating scale: clinical and research uses

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease is characterized by a wide range of motor and non-motor symptoms. The clinical evaluation of these signs and symptoms is essential for the proper treatment of the disease. For decades, the Hoehn-Yahr staging and the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale or UPDRS, have been used for the motor evaluation, disease progression assessment and as a measure of response to symptomatic treatment in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Nowadays, a more appropriate instrument is available; the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale or MDS-UPDRS. This scale provides a more comprehensive and integrated approach for the evaluation for both clinical and research aspects. In this paper, the main characteristics of the MDS-UPDRS are discussed along with a brief update of the current use in the international literature.