The Need for Developing Consensus-Based Guidelines in Assessing Parkinson’s Disease Laterality

Abstract This study investigated the correlation between Parkinson’s disease laterality, as defined by the Hoehn and Yahr (HY) scale, and appendicular parkinsonism scores from the MDS-UPDRS Part III using the PPMI dataset. While most cases (89.6%) showed congruence, a 10.4% discordance suggests that factors beyond appendicular parkinsonism influence clinical HY staging, highlighting a need for standardized guidelines. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Funding Statement This scholarly work is based on a multicenter informatics research project, funded through the Early Investigator Research Award (EIRA) of the Parkinson Research Program (PRP) of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) of the United States (US) Department of Defense (DOD), Award # W81XWH2110859. Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: Parkinson Progression Marker Initiative (PPMI) dataset on November 12th, 2024 ((www.ppmi-info.org/access-data-specimens/download-data), RRID:SCR_006431 I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes Footnotes Financial disclosure/Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they do not have any relevant financial interests to disclose. Funding Statement: The authors received no financial support for the research or authorship related to this letter. Data Availability All data produced in the present study is available on the PPMI website. https://www.ppmi-info.org/access-data-specimens/download-data