الفهرس 
Introduction &rationaleOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive and neurodegenerative disorder of the nervous system. It is characterized by a substantial loss of dopaminergic cells in the substantia nigra pars compacta (Jankovic, 2008).Recent studies also point to an important contribution of non-dopaminergic degeneration (Rochester et al., 2012).
Computerized dynamic posturography (CDP) has been used to assess balance in a variety of conditions (Fife et al., 2006, Whitney et al., 2006). One specific CDP test is the NeuroCom Equitest Sensory Organization Test (SOT), which provides an extremely sensitive objective assessment of the main sensory systems involved in balance and stability (Zammit et al., 2007).
The aim of the work in this study is to functionally evaluate balance in patients with primary PD & predict the risk of fall in those patients.
This study was conducted on thirty Primary Parkinson`s disease patients matched with thirty normal controls. All patients underwent full audiological evaluation, vestibular assessment by CDP & gait examination by functional gait assessment.
The results showed that there was no affection of PD on hearing, but vestibular affection in 56.67% of PD patients.
Conclusion & Recommendations
1-Parkinson’s disease is more common in age >60 years with prevalence in males more than females.
2-There was no effect of Parkinson’s disease either on hearing or on speech discrimination.
3-Sensory organization test can be helpful in screening PD patients for functional evaluation of their balance system.
4-Motor control test may be valuable in diagnosis of somatosensory affection in PD patients.
5-Functional gait assessment is of value in prediction of falling in PD & to differentiate between fallers & non fallers.