Frequency of hand movements as a possible diagnostic tool for parkinsonian bradykinesia. Proposal of a simple bedside test

Background Bradykinesia, dysrhythmia, and decrement in hand movements (HM) are core symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The maximal rate of repetitive rhythm-preserving HM can be a diagnostic tool for PD bradykinesia. Objectives To improve the clinical diagnosis of bradykinesia by identifying the frequencies at which rhythmic HM become irregular in PD patients compared to healthy age-matched controls. Method Forty PD patients and 16 controls were asked to alternately perform left and right hand movements following the rate of a metronome with sound stimulation beginning at 85 beats per minute (BPM) and increasing in increments of 15 BPM up to 355 BPM. The rhythm of the HM for each rate was assessed visually, and the threshold frequency at which the subject could no longer rhythmically continue HM was measured by the metronome. The increasing rates of HM until reaching that threshold were compared between patients with PD and controls. Results The mean rates of a metronome in PD vs. healthy subjects were 173.3 ± 42.0 vs. 248.8 ± 48.5 BPM ( p < 0.001) and 164.8 ± 34.2 vs. 241.2 ± 40.1 BPM ( p < 0.001) for the dominant and non-dominant hands, respectively. The areas under the ROC curve were 0.929 [95%CI: (0.86–0.99)] for the dominant hand and 0.947 [95%CI: (0.88–1.0)] for the non-dominant hand. The BMP score cut-off value was 208 (sensitivity 72.7%, specificity 100%) for the dominant hand and 206 (sensitivity 87.5%, specificity 95%) for the non-dominant hand. Conclusions The proposed test quantified the frequencies of rhythmic HMs in PD patients vs. controls and improved the diagnosis of bradykinesia in PD patients.