Table 1.
Participant characteristics by group allocation and for the entire sample at pretest.
| Outcome | “On” levodopa practice (n = 12) | “Off” levodopa practice (n = 11) | All (n = 23) | Between-group difference (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | 71.7 (5.1) | 70.3 (8.6) | 71.0 (6.9) | .63 |
| Sex (M) | 5 (42%) | 6 (55%) | 11 (48%) | .54 |
| MoCA (0–30)† | 26.8 (2.1) | 26.5 (2.1) | 26.6 (2.0) | .74 |
| Disease duration (years) | 5.3 (4.6) | 3.4 (3.4) | 4.4 (4.1) | .26 |
| LED (mg) | 599.9 (421.5) | 575.0 (276.4) | 588.0 (351.7) | .75 |
| MDS-UPDRS (0–132): “off” | 47.7 (10.2) | 43.5 (6.6) | 45.7 (8.7) | .27 |
| “on” | 32.9 (10.9) | 27.9 (5.1) | 30.5 (8.8) | .17 |
| HY stage (2)‡ | 12 (100%) | 11 (100%) | 23 (100%) | 1.0 |
| Self-reported hand dominance, right | 12 (100%) | 11 (100%) | 23 (100%) | 1.0 |
| More symptomatic UE, n/group size (%)§ | .31 | |||
| Right | 5/12 (42%) | 2/11 (18%) | 7/23 (30%) | |
| Left | 4/12 (33%) | 5/11 (45%) | 9/23 (39%) | |
Data presented as mean (SD) or n (%).
HY: Hoehn and Yahr; LED: levodopa equivalent dose; MDS-UPDRS: Movement Disorder Society sponsored version of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale; MoCA: Montreal Cognitive Assessment; UE: upper extremity.
Higher score indicates better performance
Hoehn and Yahr (HY) stage was the same regardless of whether the participant was tested “off” or “on” levodopa.
Upper extremity (UE) motor symptoms calculated as the sum of the following items for either the right or left sides from the MDS-UPDRS when tested OFF medication: 3.3 rigidity, 3.4 finger tapping, 3.5 hand movements, 3.6 hand pronation-supination, 3.15 postural tremor, 3.16 kinetic tremor, 3.17 rest tremor. Using these items, one side was determined to be more symptomatic if it was scored ≥2 points higher than the other side.