Relationship of nutritional status and clinical characteristics of people living with ParkinsonÓ?s disease

Objective: The objective of the study is to evaluate the association between nutritional status, clinical characteristics, and quality of life in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD).Methods: This is an observational, analytical, cross-sectional study conducted at a reference center.Nutritional status was assessed using the Mini Nutritional Assessment-Shot Form (MNA-SF) and categorized as normal nutrition, at risk of malnutrition, or malnourished.Motor, non-motor symptoms, depression, cognition, motor complications, and quality of life were evaluated.Group differences were assessed using Kruskal-Wallis test, and exploratory multivariable linear regression models were fitted.Results: Ninety patients were included, with a mean age of 61.02 ± 12.32 years.Nutritional status was normal in 50.0%, at risk of malnutrition in 33.3%, and malnourished in 16.6%.Significant differences across nutritional groups were observed for the Movement Disorder Society-unified PD rating scale (MDS-UPDRS) Part III, MDS-UPDRS total, Hoehn-Yahr stage, Hamilton Depression score, PD questionnaire-8 index, MDS-Non-Motor Rating Scale total, and Eating Assessment Tool-10 (EAT-10).In adjusted models, nutritional status was not independently associated with motor severity, non-motor burden, or quality of life; however, malnutrition remained associated with higher Hamilton-D scores, and at-risk nutritional status remained associated with higher EAT-10 scores.Conclusions: Nutritional impairment in PD was associated with worse clinical profiles in unadjusted analyses, although most associations attenuated after adjustment.These findings support routine nutritional screening.