Clinical Characteristics of Involuntary Movement in Hospitalized Patients

• Published in: Journal of movement disorders Vol. 12; no. 1; pp. 31 - 36
• Main Authors: Kwon, Kyum-Yil, Lee, Hye Mi, Lee, Seon-Min, Koh, Seong-Beom
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) The Korean Movement Disorder Society 01.01.2019; Korean Movement Disorder Society; 대한파킨슨병및이상운동질환학회
• Subjects: Consultation; hospital; inpatients; movement disorder; Original; tremor; 신경과학; tremor; inpatients; movement disorder; hospital; Consultation
• ISSN: 2005-940X; 2093-4939
• DOI: 10.14802/jmd.18040

Neurological symptoms in hospitalized patients are not rare, and neurological consultation for movement disorders is especially important in evaluating or managing those with various movement disorders. Therefore, we investigated a clinical pattern of in-hospital consultations for various movement disorders in a tertiary care university hospital. Over two years, a total of 202 patients (70.7 ± 11.8 years of age) presenting with movement disorders referred to movement disorder specialists were investigated. The main symptoms referred by nonneurologists were tremor (56.9%), parkinsonism (16.8%), and gait disturbance (8.9%). The most frequent diagnostic category was toxic/metabolic-caused movement disorder (T/MCMD) (35%) with regard to medications, followed by Parkinson's disease (PD) (16%). Regarding the mode of onset, T/MCMD was the leading cause for acute (68%) and subacute onset (46%), while PD was the leading disorder (31%) for chronic onset. The current study showed a characteristic pattern of inpatients presenting with movement disorders. Furthermore, our findings highlighted the clinical significance of drug use or metabolic problems for treating this patient population.