Progression of Parkinson's disease as evaluated by Hoehn and Yahr stage transition times

This study was carried out to evaluate progression in Parkinson's disease (PD) by analyzing time taken to transit from one Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y) stage to the next stage and to investigate the variables that would be associated with H&Y transition times using a large PD database that contained prospectively collected information. Data were obtained from the movement disorder database of the National Neuroscience Institute in Singapore. Kaplan-Meier (KM) survival analysis was adopted to investigate the time taken to progress through various H&Y stages. Cox regression analysis was used to examine the association between the baseline variables at the entry point of each H&Y stage and the progression to the next stage. A total of 695 patients (mean age: 65.2, male: 57.3%) were studied. Using KM analysis, the median time taken to transit from H&Y stage 1 to 2, 2 to 2.5, 2.5 to 3 were 20, 62, and 25 months, respectively; whereas the median time taken to progress from stage 3 to 4 and 4 to 5 were 24 and 26 months, respectively. Cox regression analysis revealed that older age-at-diagnosis, longer PD duration, and higher Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) motor scores at baseline were associated with a significantly faster progression through various H&Y stages. Gender and ethnicity were not associated with disease progression. In conclusion, H&Y transition time is a useful measure of disease progression in PD and may be utilized in clinical studies evaluating therapeutic interventions and prognostic factors in PD.