Freezing of gait in Chinese patients with Parkinson Disease

• The prevalence of FOG was 46.62% in Chinese PD patients.
• Old, long disease duration or low limbs as onset site patients reported more FOG.
• FOG is related to motor severity.
• FOG is related to urinary symptoms and depression.
• FOG is related to falls and festination.

A total of 474 Chinese Parkinson disease (PD) patients were evaluated to explore the prevalence and clinical correlates of freezing of gait (FOG) in this cross-sectional study. Two hundred and twenty-one PD patients (46.62%) reported FOG (freezers). FOG occurred more frequently in older patients and patients with low limbs as the site of onset, longer disease duration and higher Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y) stage (P < 0.05). After adjusting for confounding factors, the freezers had higher scores for the Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS) part III, Non-Motor Symptoms Scale (NMSS), PD Questionnaire 39 (PDQ-39), Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) and Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), and lower scores for the Mini-Mental status examination (MMSE), frontal assessment battery (FAB) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) compared with the non-freezers (P < 0.05). The binary logistic regression analysis indicated that festination, falls, a high daily dose of levodopa, the use of a dopamine receptor agonist, a high H&Y stage, the severity of urinary symptoms and a high HAMD score were associated with FOG. FOG is a relatively common disabling symptom in Chinese PD patients. Patients that were older, or reported a longer disease duration, low limbs as the site of onset and a more severe disability were more likely to experience FOG. Non-motor symptoms, especially urinary symptoms and depression, may also be related to FOG.