Olfaction and
rhinorrhea: a comparison of people with Parkinson's desease and
osteoarthritis
Olfactory impairment
is now considered a pre-motor symptom of Parkinson's disease. I have found
(two articles in press) that rhinorrhea is markedly increased in PD and
may confound olfactory impairments. This proposal is to compare PD
patients with osteoarthritis patients (similar demographics) on self
perceived smell assessments, formal testing with a validated test of
olfaction (University of Pennsylvania Smell Impairment Test (UPSIT)), and
self reported rhinorrhea. One hundred consecutive PD patients from my
clinic will be compared with 100 consecutive OA patients from an arthritis
center. The student will administer a brief questionnaire and the UPSIT,
collect demographic and medical data (eg cigarette smoking history, sinus
related history, medications, head trauma, disease duration and severity)
on each group. Under the supervision of Melissa Amick, PhD (Assistant
Professor, Dept of Human Behavior and Psychiatry at The Warren Alpert
Medical School of Brown University; Division of Neuropsychology or
Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island) the student will be taught the
appropriate tests for statistical analyses of the results. The results may
have significant implications for understanding the importance of
olfactory impairment as a pre-motor symptom of PD.
