Spiral drawing during self-rated dyskinesia is more impaired than during self-rated Off.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to examine repeated measures of fine motor function in relation to self-assessed motor conditions in Parkinson's disease (PD). METHODS One-hundred PD patients, 65 with advanced PD and 35 patients with different disease stages have utilized a test battery in a telemedicine setting. On each test occasion, they initially self-assessed their motor condition (from 'very off' to 'very dyskinetic') and then performed a set of fine motor tests (tapping and spiral drawings). RESULTS The motor tests scores were found to be the best during self-rated On. Self-rated dyskinesias caused more impaired spiral drawing performance (mean = 9.8% worse, P < 0.001) but at the same time tapping speed was faster (mean = 5.0% increase, P < 0.001), compared to scores in self-rated Off. CONCLUSIONS The fine motor tests of the test battery capture different symptoms; the spiral impairment primarily relates to dyskinesias whereas the tapping speed captures the Off symptoms.