The gold standard for the measurement of symptoms of Parkinson's Disease is the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) (Gaudet, 2002). The UPDRS is an essential component of comprehensive occupational therapy assessment of an individual with Parkinson's Disease because of its thorough evaluation of ADL components. Occupational performance of ADLs are assessed from a historical perspective and include evaluation of speech, swallowing, handwriting, eating, dressing, hygiene, bed mobility, falling, ambulation, tremor, and sensory deficits (Gaudet, 2002)
The assessment includes five sections:
1) Signs and symptoms on a scale from 0 (normal) to severe (4)
2) Complications of pharmacological management
3) The Modified Hoehn and Yahr rating scale
4) The Modified Schwab and England scale
5) Weight and vital signs
The assessment includes five sections:
1) Signs and symptoms on a scale from 0 (normal) to severe (4)
2) Complications of pharmacological management
3) The Modified Hoehn and Yahr rating scale
4) The Modified Schwab and England scale
5) Weight and vital signs
The Modified Hoehn and Yahr is a scale used for staging which classifies disease severity into eight levels from 0 (no signs of the disease) to 5 (wheelchair bound or bedridden) (Gaudet, 2002).
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The Modified Schwab and England rates independence in ADLs on a scale divided in 10% increments, from 0% (bedridden and vegetative functions) to 100% (completely independent) (Gaudet, 2002).
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