A Bowron

Publications (2)9.63 Total impact

• Article: A multicentre longitudinal observational study of changes in self reported health status in people with Parkinson's disease left untreated at diagnosis.

  D Grosset, L Taurah, D J Burn, D MacMahon, A Forbes, K Turner, A Bowron, R Walker, L Findley, O Foster, [......], S Reading, G Brand, L Kelly, K Breen, S Ford, M Baker, A Williams, J Hearne, N Qizilbash, K Ray Chaudhuri
  [show abstract] [hide abstract]
  ABSTRACT: The issue of when to start treatment in Parkinson's disease (PD) remains controversial. Some favour treatment at diagnosis while others opt for a "wait and watch" policy. The effect of the latter policy on the self reported health status of people with PD is unknown. To record self reported health status through longitudinal use of a validated PD specific questionnaire (PDQ-39) in untreated PD patients in multiple centres in the UK. To compare patients who were left untreated with those who were offered treatment during follow-up. A multicentre, prospective, "real life" observational audit based study addressing patient reported outcomes in relation to self reported health status and other sociodemographic details. 198 untreated PD were assessed over a mean period of 18 months. During two follow-up assessments, the self reported health status scores in all eight domains of the PDQ-39 and the overall PDQ-39 summary index worsened significantly (p<0.01) in patients left untreated. In a comparative group in whom treatment was initiated at or soon after diagnosis, there was a trend towards improvement in self reported health status scores after treatment was started. This study addresses for the first time self reported health status, an indicator of health related quality of life, in untreated PD. The findings may strengthen the call for re-evaluation of the policy to delay treatment in newly diagnosed patients with PD.
  Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry 06/2007; 78(5):465-9. · 4.87 Impact Factor
• Source

  Available from: nih.gov

  Article: Incidence and prediction of falls in Parkinson's disease: a prospective multidisciplinary study.

  B H Wood, J A Bilclough, A Bowron, R W Walker
  [show abstract] [hide abstract]
  ABSTRACT: To accurately establish the incidence of falls in Parkinson's disease (PD) and to investigate predictive risk factors for fallers from baseline data. 109 subjects with idiopathic PD diagnosed according to the brain bank criteria underwent a multidisciplinary baseline assessment comprising demographic and historical data, disease specific rating scales, physiotherapy assessment, tests of visual, cardiovascular and autonomic function, and bone densitometry. Patients were then prospectively followed up for one year using weekly prepaid postcards along with telephone follow up. Falls occurred in 68.3% of the subjects. Previous falls, disease duration, dementia, and loss of arm swing were independent predictors of falling. There were also significant associations between disease severity, balance impairment, depression, and falling. Falls are a common problem in PD and some of the major risk factors are potentially modifiable. There is a need for future studies to look at interventions to prevent falls in PD.
  Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery &amp Psychiatry 07/2002; 72(6):721-5. · 4.76 Impact Factor