There is increasing evidence that Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a disease with heterogeneous clinical presentation and prognosis, and defining PD subtypes can help to better understand the disease mechanism, predict the disease course, and ultimately develop more effective individualized treatment plans. With the increasing research on non-motor symptoms of PD, the traditional staging method based on motor symptoms can no longer meet the clinical and scientific needs, and there is an urgent need to explore a new and effective staging method. To this end, a study conducted by Professor Postuma and others from Canada has identified clinical subtypes of PD, compared the prognosis and progression of patients with different PD subtypes, and compared the prognosis of this subtyping approach compared to the traditional classification approach. The study was a prospective cohort study that enrolled 113 patients with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease from two movement disorder clinics in Montreal, Canada. A comprehensive assessment of motor and non-motor symptoms was performed at baseline, including motor symptom severity, motor complications, motor subtypes, quantitative motor function assessment, autonomic function and psychiatric symptoms, olfactory, color vision, sleep-related indicators, and cognitive function tests. After a mean follow-up period of 4.5 years, 76 patients participated in a reassessment. In addition to re-analysis of baseline indicators, the investigators calculated a composite prognosis by combining motor signs and symptoms, cognitive function, and other non-motor performance scores. Differences in the composite prognostic outcome and changes in each of its components were compared between patients of different subtypes. Patients were classified into three subtypes, predominantly motor/slowly progressive, diffuse/malignant, and intermediate, based on baseline postural hypotension, mild cognitive dysfunction, rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD), depression, anxiety, and Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) Part II and III scores. Although the age and duration of disease were comparable among the three subtypes, patients with diffuse/malignant PD had more symptoms of mild cognitive dysfunction, postural hypotension, and RBD at baseline and progressed more rapidly in terms of cognitive function, other nonmotor symptoms, motor symptoms, motor signs, and overall prognostic outcomes. Based on the results of this study, the investigators recommend screening patients with baseline PD for mild cognitive dysfunction, postural hypotension, and symptoms such as RBD, which are non-motor symptoms that help identify patients with diffuse/malignant PD who have the greatest likelihood of rapid progression.