Assessment of the Scopa-Aut questionnaire in multiple system atrophy: Relation to UMSARS scores and progression over time

Nathalie Damon-Perrière, Alexandra Foubert-Samier, Valérie Cochen De Cock, Angélique Gerdelat-Mas, Rachel Debs, Anne Pavy-Le Traon, Jean-Michel Senard, Olivier Rascol, François Tison, Wassilios G. Meissner
Parkinsonism & Related Disorders. 2012-06-01; 18(5): 612-615
DOI: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2011.12.009

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1. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2012 Jun;18(5):612-5. doi:
10.1016/j.parkreldis.2011.12.009. Epub 2012 Jan 9.

Assessment of the Scopa-Aut questionnaire in multiple system atrophy: relation to
UMSARS scores and progression over time.

Damon-Perrière N(1), Foubert-Samier A, De Cock VC, Gerdelat-Mas A, Debs R,
Pavy-Le Traon A, Senard JM, Rascol O, Tison F, Meissner WG.

Author information:
(1)Service de Neurologie, CHU de Bordeaux, Pessac, France.

Autonomic failure is a key feature of multiple system atrophy (MSA). Moreover,
early autonomic failure is an independent predictive factor for rapid disease
progression and shorter survival. The assessment of autonomic failure is
therefore important for both, the diagnosis and prognosis of MSA. Here, we
evaluate autonomic dysfunction in MSA patients by the Scopa-Aut questionnaire.
Potential associations between the Scopa-Aut questionnaire and established
markers of disease progression – that is the Unified MSA Rating Scale (UMSARS) –
were further assessed. The results confirm early and prominent autonomic failure
in MSA patients. Relative scores were highest for the sexual and urinary
subdomains. Surprisingly, relative scores in the cardiovascular subdomain were
lowest suggesting that the Scopa-Aut questionnaire is suboptimal for the
screening and evaluation of cardiovascular symptoms in MSA. A multivariate
regression showed an association between total Scopa-Aut and UMSARS I scores. No
significant changes in Scopa-Aut scores were observed during follow-up except for
the urinary subdomain, while UMSARS I, II and IV scores significantly increased
over time. In conclusion, Scopa-Aut can be used as a simple auto-questionnaire
for the screening of autonomic symptoms in multiple system atrophy. It seems not
useful as endpoint for disease-modification or neuroprotection trials.

Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DOI: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2011.12.009
PMID: 22236582 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

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