Abstract: Objective To investigate the status about non-motor symptoms (NMS) in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and the effect on quality of life. Methods 50 PD patients and 50 normal controls were investigated with the NMS questionnaire and the Healthy Survey short form (SF-36), and analysed with Spearman correlation. Results 98% of PD patients presented NMS, and recent memory loss, restless legs,constipation were the most frequent. All the NMS were more frequent than in the controls (P<0.05) except sexual desire, sexual difficulties and nausea or vomiting. All the dimensions of SF-36 were significantly different between the groups (P<0.05). The symptoms of constipation,decline in recent memory, decreased attention, restless legs and sleep disorders correlated with the scores of SF-36 (P<0.05). Conclusion NMS is common in PD patients, and impacts their quality of life.

Key words: Parkinson's disease, non-motor symptoms, quality of life