Publications by authors named "A Valadas"
Background: The MDS-UPDRS has been available in English since 2008, showing satisfactory clinimetric results and being proposed as the new official benchmark scale for Parkinson's disease (PD), being cited as a core instrument for PD in the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Common Data Elements program. For this reason, the MDS created guidelines for development of MDS-UPDRS official, clinimetrically validated translations.
Objective: This study presents the formal process used to obtain the officially approved Portuguese version of the MDS-UPDRS.
Background: Quantitative 3D movement analysis using inertial measurement units (IMUs) allows for a more detailed characterization of motor patterns than clinical assessment alone. It is essential to discriminate between gait features that are responsive or unresponsive to current therapies to better understand the underlying pathophysiological basis and identify potential therapeutic strategies.
Objectives: This study aims to characterize the responsiveness and temporal evolution of different gait subcomponents in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients in their OFF and various ON states following levodopa administration, utilizing both wearable sensors and the gold-standard MDS-UPDRS motor part III.
Long-term follow-up of subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation in patients with Parkinson's disease: An analysis of survival and disability milestones.
Parkinsonism Relat Disord
January 2024
Background: Data on the long-term survival and incidence of disability milestones after subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) in Parkinson's disease (PD) is limited.
Objectives: To estimate mortality and assess the frequency/time-to-development of disability milestones (falls, freezing, hallucinations, dementia, and institutionalization) among PD patients post STN-DBS.
Methods: A longitudinal retrospective study of patients undergoing STN-DBS.
Background: Handicap is a patient-centered measure of health status that encompasses the impact of social and physical environment on daily living, having been assessed in advanced and late-stage Parkinson's Disease (PD).
Objective: To characterize the handicap of a broader sample of patients.
Methods: A cross-sectional study of 405 PD patients during the MDS-UPDRS Portuguese validation study, using the MDS-UPDRS, Unified Dyskinesias Rating Scale, Nonmotor symptoms questionnaire, PDQ-8 and EQ-5D-3L.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to compare COVID-19 patient characteristics, clinical management, and outcomes during the peak (weeks 10-16) and plateau (weeks 17-34) phases of the first pandemic wave in Portugal.
- A total of 541 adult patients, mostly male with a median age of 65, were analyzed, showing no significant differences in age, initial health scores, and 28-day mortality between the two periods.
- Key findings indicated fewer comorbidities, higher use of certain treatments (like vasopressors and invasive ventilation) during the peak, whereas the plateau saw increased use of different therapies like remdesivir and corticosteroids and shorter ICU stays.