Cited by 5,720Parkinson's Disease Mechanisms and TreatmentsNeurological disorders and treatmentsDementia and Cognitive Impairment Research

Parkinson's disease: clinical features and diagnosis

Open access
Jankovic, J·2008·Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder characterised by a large number of motor and non-motor features that can impact on function to a variable degree. This review describes the clinical characteristics of PD with emphasis on those features that differentiate the disease from other parkinsonian disorders. METHODS: A MedLine search was performed to identify studies that assess the clinical characteristics of PD. Search terms included "Parkinson's disease", "diagnosis" and "signs and symptoms". RESULTS: Because there is no definitive test for the diagnosis of PD, the disease must be diagnosed based on clinical criteria. Rest tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity and loss of postural reflexes are generally considered the cardinal signs of PD. The presence and specific presentation of these features are used to differentiate PD from related parkinsonian disorders. Other clinical features include secondary motor symptoms (eg, hypomimia, dysarthria, dysphagia, sialorrhoea, micrographia, shuffling gait, festination, freezing, dystonia, glabellar reflexes), non-motor symptoms (eg, autonomic dysfunction, cognitive/neurobehavioral abnormalities, sleep disorders and sensory abnormalities such as anosmia, paresthesias and pain). Absence of rest tremor, early occurrence of gait difficulty, postural instability, dementia, hallucinations, and the presence of dysautonomia, ophthalmoparesis, ataxia and other atypical features, coupled with poor or no response to levodopa, suggest diagnoses other than PD. CONCLUSIONS: A thorough understanding of the broad spectrum of clinical manifestations of PD is essential to the proper diagnosis of the disease. Genetic mutations or variants, neuroimaging abnormalities and other tests are potential biomarkers that may improve diagnosis and allow the identification of persons at risk.

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Registry

Crossref · 10.1136/jnnp.2007.131045

Cites

156 of 156 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Most medical diagnoses rely on standardized guidelines.

    “Most medical diagnoses rely on standardized guidelines [23, 26, 60].”

    From Understanding the Effect of Counterfactual Explanations on Trust and Reliance on AI for Human-AI Collaborative Clinical Decision Making (2023) · cites this paper as [26]

    The “Assessment of Patients with PD—Diagnostic criteria” section (page not provided) says Parkinson’s disease is diagnosed using clinical criteria and describes two published sets of diagnostic criteria. It does not establish that most medical diagnoses, across conditions, rely on standardized guidelines. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Resting tremor that occurs in a fully supported arm serves as an important symptom in differentiating PD from ET in clinical diagnosis.

    “Resting tremor that occurs in a fully supported arm serves as an important symptom in differentiating PD from ET in clinical diagnosis (Jankovic, 2008).”

    From A Novel Posture for Better Differentiation Between Parkinson's Tremor and Essential Tremor (2018) · cites this paper as Jankovic, 2008

    The Tremor section calls rest tremor a common symptom of PD, and Table 2 lists tremor increasing at rest in PD but decreasing at rest in essential tremor. The copy does not specify a fully supported arm as the examination condition, so that detail is unsupported. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Around 80% of Parkinson's disease patients have limb tremor, most commonly a resting pill-rolling type of tremor of the hands.

    “Around 80% have limb tremor, most commonly a resting pill-rolling type of tremor of the hands.”

    From The clinical symptoms of Parkinson's disease. (2016) · cites this paper as Jankovic 2008

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Cites

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1 of the 157 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 6

  1. [41]41. Stamey WP, Jankovic J. Shoulder pain in Parkinson's disease. Mov Disord 2007;22:S247-8.
  2. [50]50. Djaldetti R, Mosberg-Galili R, Sroka H, et al. Camptocormia (bent spine) in patients with Parkinson's disease-characterization and possible pathogenesis of an unusual phenomenon. Mov Disord 1999;14:443-7.
  3. [53]53. Wenning GK, Ebersbach G, Verny M, et al. Progression of falls in postmortem- confirmed parkinsonian disorders. Mov Disord 1999;14:947-50.
  4. [57]57. Koller WC, Glatt S, Vetere-Overfield B, et al. Falls and Parkinson's disease. Clin Neuropharmacol 1989;12:98-105.
  5. [68]68. Marchese R, Diverio M, Zucchi F, et al. The role of sensory cues in the rehabilitation of parkinsonian patients: a comparison of two physical therapy protocols. Mov Disord 2000;15:879-83.
  6. [75]75. Wu J, Sitburana O, Jankovic J. The specificity and sensitivity of ''applause sign'' in differentiating PSP and other parkinsonian syndromes. Mov Disord 2007;22:S254-5.

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Authors
Jankovic, J.
Affiliations
Baylor College of Medicine (US)
Corresponding author
Jankovic, J
Venue
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry
Publisher
BMJ
Published
2008-04-01
Volume
79
Issue
4
Pages
368-376
ISSN
0022-3050 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2145954079
Cited by
5,720
References
157
Citations by year
2026: 307 · 2025: 455 · 2024: 503 · 2023: 422 · 2022: 424 · 2021: 444 · 2020: 455 · 2019: 405 · 2018: 349 · 2017: 323 · 2016: 324 · 2015: 298 · 2014: 257 · 2013: 232 · 2012: 184
FWCI
15.94
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Parkinson Foundation
  • Parkinsonfonden
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Parkinson's Disease Mechanisms and Treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Neurological disorders and treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
Keywords
Parkinson's disease, clinical features, diagnosis, parkinsonism, resting tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity, postural instability, non-motor symptoms, autonomic dysfunction, levodopa response, differential diagnosis, biomarkers, genetic mutations, neuroimaging
MeSH terms
Diagnosis, Differential, Humans, Neurologic Examination, Parkinson Disease, Parkinsonian Disorders

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