مقالات پذیرفته شده در نهمین کنگره بین المللی زیست پزشکی
Prevalence of Headache and Dizziness in Parkinson’s Patients After COVID-19
Prevalence of Headache and Dizziness in Parkinson’s Patients After COVID-19
Fatemeh Ansari,1,*Arash Letafati,2
1. Research Center for Clinical Virology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 2. Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has posed unprecedented challenges worldwide, particularly for vulnerable groups such as patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Beyond respiratory involvement, mounting evidence indicates significant neurological manifestations associated with COVID-19. Given PD patients’ susceptibility due to age, immune decline, and possible treatment-related immunomodulation, understanding neurological symptom prevalence in this population is of special clinical interest. This study investigated the clinical features of COVID-19 in PD patients, with a focus on neurological manifestations such as headache and dizziness.
Methods: Between March 2020 and May 2021, 12 hospitals in Iran participated in this retrospective multicenter study, which was carried out by the Iranian Network for Research in Viral Diseases. There were 54 PD patients with suspected COVID-19; 27 of them had positive tests (case group) and 27 had negative tests (control group). Confounding comorbidity patients were not included. Using nasal, oropharyngeal, or nasopharyngeal swabs, RT-PCR was used to confirm the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used in statistical analyses to compare the frequency of symptoms across groups, with sex-specific subgroup analyses.
Results: Of the 54 PD patients (61.1% males and 38.9% females), higher rates of respiratory and neurological symptoms occurred among the COVID-19 positive cases than among the controls. Sore throat was reported in 74% of patients, with an odds ratio (OR) of 3.6 and a P-value of 0.030, while shortness of breath was present in 81%, with an OR of 12.6 and a P of less than 0.001. Fever occurred in 89% of the infected group, with an OR of 6.4 and a P-value of 0.010. Neurological symptoms were especially more prominent: headache (74%, OR: 8.1, P < 0.001) and dizziness (67%, OR: 8.8, P < 0.001). Subgroup analyses showed dizziness reached significance in both sexes, while fever reached significance in females and headache in males. Although the small sample sizes in the subgroups restricted the statistical power, these results very strongly suggest a higher neurological burden in COVID-19-positive PD patients.
Conclusion: The research demonstrates that Parkinson's disease patients who contract COVID-19 develop neurological symptoms which mostly consist of headaches and dizziness. The findings indicate that neuroinflammation from SARS-CoV-2 produces symptoms which connect to the existing dopaminergic problems in Parkinson's disease. The doctor needs to understand this overlap because symptoms related to respiratory issues get linked to COVID-19 but neurological signs could stem from Parkinson's disease or its treatment or the viral infection itself. Medical research requires larger future studies with extended patient monitoring to determine the relationship between the two factors so doctors can develop superior treatment methods.