Nutritional status and activities of daily living in patients with Parkinson’s disease

Patients with Parkinson’s disease are often frail and likely to be malnourished. Several studies have reported the adverse effects of malnutrition on functional outcomes; however, the association between nutritional status and activities of daily living is unclear among patients with Parkinson’s disease. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between nutritional status and activities of daily living in patients with Parkinson’s disease. We conducted a retrospective cohort study with the data of 124 patients who were consecutively admitted to a rehabilitation hospital in Japan, among whom the data of 61 patients were included in the analyses. The Controlling Nutritional Status score was used to measure the nutritional status of the participants, and the motor subdomain of the Functional Independence Measure was used to assess the activities of daily living. Piecewise linear mixed-effects models were fitted to the data after adjusting for confounding factors. A poor nutritional status (i.e., Controlling Nutritional Status score >3) was significantly associated with a poor Functional Independence Measure gain, which was defined as difference in the score values of the Functional Independence Measures between discharge and admission. Our findings could aid in developing nutritional intervention programs for patients with Parkinson’s disease by employing the Controlling Nutritional Status score to improve their activities of daily living.