Pimentel Piemonte, Maria Elisa

Background Sexual health is influenced by a complex interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors, all of which can be impacted by Parkinson's disease (PD). Female sexual dysfunction includes reduced sexual desire and/or arousal, pain during sexual activity, or difficulty achieving orgasm. Despite its impact on quality of life, sexual health in women with PD remains poorly understood. Objective To investigate the impact of motor, non-motor, and social PD aspects on sexual health of women with PD. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study with 100 women with PD (Hoehn and Yahr stages 1–3) who reported an active sex life in the last six months. Data were collected via remote interviews and included demographic and clinical features, cognitive capacity, motor and non-motor experiences, fatigue, self-esteem, sleep disorders, couple relationship quality, depressive symptoms, and sexual health assessments using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) and Sexual Quotient-Female (SQ-F). Multiple regression models were used to identify predictors of FSFI and SQ-F scores. Results Results indicated that while several motor, non-motor, and social factors correlated with sexual health, only couple relationship quality and sleep quality significantly predicted both short-term (FSFI) and long-term (SQ-F) sexual health. No significant associations were observed with age, disease onset, postmenopausal status, or daily medication dosage. Conclusions The present study's evidence identifies multiple key areas, such as couple's relationship quality and sleep quality that could be targeted for intervention to improve sexual health in women with PD.

Pregnancy in women with early-onset Parkinson’s disease (PD) is likely to have a higher frequency given the trend toward increasing maternal age, thus resulting in a greater overlap time between childbearing age and PD risk. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy is nowadays offered to PD patients at earlier stage of the disease, when women can still be pre-menopausal. However, few data are available about DBS safety during pregnancy. From a review of the available literature, only one article was published on this topic so far. Therefore, we have developed a clinical consensus on the safety of DBS during pregnancy in PD patients.

ABSTRACT Background Early‐onset Parkinson's disease (EOPD)/young‐onset Parkinson's disease (YOPD) is defined as Parkinson's disease (PD) with an age at onset (AAO) after age 21 years but before the usual AAO for PD. Consensus is lacking, and the reported maximal age for EOPD/YOPD has varied from 40 to 60 years, leading to a lack of uniformity in published studies and difficulty in harmonization of data. EOPD and YOPD have both been used in the literature, somewhat interchangeably. Objective To define the nomenclature and AAO cutoff for EOPD/YOPD. Methods An extensive review of the literature and task force meetings were conducted. Conclusions were reached by consensus. Results First, the literature has seen a shift from the use of YOPD toward EOPD. This seems motivated by an attempt to avoid age‐related stigmatization of patients. Second, in defining EOPD, 56% of the countries use 50 or 51 years as the cutoff age. Third, the majority of international genetic studies in PD use an age cutoff of younger than 50 years to define EOPD. Fourth, many studies suggest that changes in the estrogen level can affect the predisposition to develop PD, making the average age at menopause of 50 years an important factor to consider when defining EOPD. Fifth, considering the differential impact of the AAO of PD on professional and social life, using 50 years as the upper cutoff for the definition of EOPD seems reasonable. Conclusions This task force recommends the use of EOPD rather than YOPD. It defines EOPD as PD with AAO after 21 years but before 50 years.