Verbal Fluency Performance in Patients with Non-demented Parkinson’s Disease

Objective: while parkinson’s disease (pd) has traditionally been defined by motor symptoms, many researches have indicated that mild cognitive impairment is common in non-demented pd patients. the purpose of this study was to compare verbal fluency performance in non-demented parkinson’s disease patients with healthy controls. method: in this cross-sectional study thirty non-demented parkinson’s disease patients and 30 healthy controls, matched by age, gender and education, were compared on verbal fluency performance. verbal fluency was studied with a phonemic fluency task using the letters f, a, and s, a semantic fluency task using the categories animals and fruits. the independent t-test was used for data analysis.results: overall, participants generated more words in the semantic fluency task than in the phonemic fluency task. results revealed significant differences between patients and controls in semantic fluency task (p < .05). in addition, pd patients showed a significant reduction of correctly generated words in letter fluency task. the total number of words produced was also significantly lower in the pd group (p < .05).conclusion: verbal fluency disruption is implied in non-demented pd patients in association with incipient cognitive impairment.