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There are few studies which attest the efficacy of acupuncture on treatment of sleep disturbs in Parkinson disease. The aimed of this randomized clinical trial was to evaluate the effects of acupuncture on sleep disturbs of 22 patients with diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson disease (Hoehn—Yahr 1 to 3) who have assistance on the Pro-Parkinson Program of Clinical Hospital at Federal University of Pernambuco in Brazil. All participants were evaluated by Parkinson Disease Sleep Scale (PDSS) before and after 8 weeks. The experimental group was submitted to 8 sections (once a week) which had duration of 30 minutes. The control group had no intervention. The intervention was executed using the acupuncture points LR3 (Taichong), SP6 (Sanyinjiao), LI4 (Hegu), TE5 (Wai-Guan), HT7 (Shenmen), PC6 (Neiguan), LI11 (Quchi), GB20 (Fengchi). Paired analyses were obtained by Wilcoxon test and independent analyses were made according to Mann—Whitney test. This study presented a potential therapeutic benefit of acupuncture on sleep disturbs of Parkinson’s disease patients. This study showed a possible therapeutic benefit through acupuncture in sleep disorders in patients with PD. However, we propose new studies related to the effects of acupuncture on the clinical symptoms and evolution of the disease.

The goal of this study was to obtain the limit of dysphagia and the average volume per swallow in patients with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease (PD) but without swallowing complaints and in normal subjects, and to investigate the relationship between them. We hypothesize there is a direct relationship between these two measurements. The study included 10 patients with idiopathic PD and 10 age-matched normal controls. Surface electromyography was recorded over the suprahyoid muscle group. The limit of dysphagia was obtained by offering increasing volumes of water until piecemeal deglutition occurred. The average volume per swallow was calculated by dividing the time taken by the number of swallows used to drink 100 ml of water. The PD group showed a significantly lower dysphagia limit and lower average volume per swallow. There was a significantly moderate direct correlation and association between the two measurements. About half of the PD patients had an abnormally low dysphagia limit and average volume per swallow, although none had spontaneously related swallowing problems. Both measurements may be used as a quick objective screening test for the early identification of swallowing alterations that may lead to dysphagia in PD patients, but the determination of the average volume per swallow is much quicker and simpler.

Detecting and monitoring cognitive deficits in elderly populations are necessary, as they can impact individuals´ functionality. This integrative review aims to analyze the scientific production on the use of cognitive assessment instruments in Brazilian elderly individuals through articles published in the last five years, indexed in the Web of Science, Pubmed, Scopus and Bireme databases. Inclusion criteria were original articles published in English and Portuguese from 2012 to 2016, the age criterion to define elderly individuals and scores higher than 6 in the adapted CASP. The exclusion criterion was conference abstracts submitted for publication. The final sample consisted of 100 articles. Sixty-one cognitive assessment instruments were used in the studies, especially the Mini-Mental State Examination. This review features the use of cognitive instruments in the Brazilian literature, their different versions and domains evaluated. The literature includes a large number of instruments. The most used tests were the MMSE (version proposed by Brucki et al.), the Verbal Fluency Test (\"animal\" category) and the Digit Span Memory Test (forward span and backward span). The findings presented in this review are relevant not only for observational and experimental research but also for clinical practice.

Swallowing difficulties in Parkinson’s disease can result in decreased quality of life. The swallowing quality of life questionnaire (SWAL-QOL) is an instrument for specifically assessing quality of life with respect to swallowing, which has been little explored in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). The goal of this study was to evaluate the quality of life with respect to swallowing in persons with PD compared to controls and at several stages of the disease using the SWAL-QOL. The experimental group was composed of 62 persons with PD at stages 1–4. Forty-one age-matched healthy subjects constituted the control group. The SWAL-QOL scores were significantly lower for the patients with PD than for the controls in all SWAL-QOL domains. Eating duration had the largest difference in score between persons with PD and the controls and the lowest mean score, followed by communication , fatigue , fear , sleep , and food selection . The scores of most domains were lower at later stages of the disease. The scores for eating duration , symptom frequency , and sleep were significantly lower at stage 4 than stages 1 and 2. In conclusion, patients with PD have significantly lower scores in all domains of the SWAL-QOL than normal controls. This means swallowing difficulties occurring in patients with PD negatively affect their QOL. Progression of the disease worsens swallowing QOL, more specifically in the domains of eating duration , symptom frequency , and sleep . This occurs mostly at later stages of the disease.

Resumo A detecção e o monitoramento do déficit cognitivo em idosos são necessários já que podem causar impacto em sua funcionalidade. O objetivo dessa revisão integrativa é analisar a produção científica sobre uso de instrumentos de avaliação cognitiva em idosos brasileiros por meio de artigos publicados nos últimos cinco anos, indexados nas bases de dados Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus e Bireme. Os critérios de inclusão foram: artigos originais publicados em inglês e português, de 2012 a 2016, com critério de idade definido para ser considerado idoso, e escore maior que 6 no CASP adaptado. O critério de exclusão foi: ser resumo de congresso. A amostra final foi composta por 100 artigos. Foram apresentados os 61 instrumentos de avaliação cognitiva utilizados nos estudos, com destaque para o Mini Exame do Estado Mental. Essa revisão apresenta o uso de instrumentos cognitivos na pesquisa brasileira, suas diferentes versões e quais domínios são avaliados. O número de instrumentos presentes na literatura foi amplo. Os mais utilizados foram o MEEM (versão de Brucki e colaboradores), o Teste de Fluência Verbal (categoria animais) e o Teste Span de dígitos (ordem direta e inversa). Os achados apresentados nessa revisão são relevantes não apenas para área da pesquisa observacional e experimental, mas também para a prática clínica. Abstract Detecting and monitoring cognitive deficits in elderly populations are necessary, as they can impact individuals´ functionality. This integrative review aims to analyze the scientific production on the use of cognitive assessment instruments in Brazilian elderly individuals through articles published in the last five years, indexed in the Web of Science, Pubmed, Scopus and Bireme databases. Inclusion criteria were original articles published in English and Portuguese from 2012 to 2016, the age criterion to define elderly individuals and scores higher than 6 in the adapted CASP. The exclusion criterion was conference abstracts submitted for publication. The final sample consisted of 100 articles. Sixty-one cognitive assessment instruments were used in the studies, especially the Mini-Mental State Examination. This review features the use of cognitive instruments in the Brazilian literature, their different versions and domains evaluated. The literature includes a large number of instruments. The most used tests were the MMSE (version proposed by Brucki et al.), the Verbal Fluency Test (“animal” category) and the Digit Span Memory Test (forward span and backward span). The findings presented in this review are relevant not only for observational and experimental research but also for clinical practice.

During migraine attacks, patients generally have photophobia and phonophobia and seek for environments with less sensorial stimulation. Present work aimed to quantify cortical partial directed coherence (PDC) of electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings from migraine patients and controls in occipital, parietal, and frontal areas with or without photic stimulation. Our hypothesis is that migraine patients with visual aura might have neuronal networks with higher coherence than controls even in interictal periods due to a predisposition in sensory cortical processing. Eleven adult women with migraine with visual aura (at least 48 h without previous attacks) and seven healthy adult woman were submitted to EEG recording in basal state and during photic stimulation. When compared to healthy volunteers, migraine patients show different coherence profiles. Migraine patients had greater coherence than controls during the basal period (without photic stimulation), showing predisposition for sensory processing in many frequency ranges. After photic stimulation, patients showed a decrease in cortical coherence while controls had an increase. When compared to healty subjects, migraineurs show increased cortical coherence before photic stimulation, but a decrease when stimulation starts. This may be the expression of a resilience mechanism that allows migraineurs the interictal period. The PDC analysis permits to address a patient coherence profile, or \"coherence map,\" that can be utilized for management of the headache disorder or following up treatments.

In swallowing, the hyoid bone moves up and forward in response to the activation of suprahyoid muscles, opening the upper esophageal sphincter and aiding the airway protection mechanism. This displacement measure has been analyzed with ultrasound images because this method does not expose the patient to radiation, has a good cost–benefit ratio, and is safe for the patient. However, there is no consensus on the reliability of this ultrasound measure. The objective of this study was to analyze the reliability of measuring hyoid bone displacement amplitude in swallowing with ultrasound. The systematic review encompassed five databases (MEDLINE, Scopus, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library) and gray literature. There was no limitation of language or year of publication. The search/selection/extraction methodology was conducted by two authors blindly and independently, and differences were solved by a third rater. Three studies met the eligibility criteria: two of them analyzed the reliability in non-dysphagic populations and the other, in dysphagic patients. The transducer was positioned in the submandibular region in all studies. The authors were not clear about the training time to acquire and analyze ultrasound images. The meta-analysis had an interrater reliability of 0.858 (95% CI: 0.744–0.924) and intrarater reliability of 0.968 (95% CI: 0.903–0.990). There was, however, heterogeneity of p = 0.005 for intrarater reliability. Despite good reliability, the heterogeneity reinforces the importance of training and protocol standardization for image acquisition and analysis.