Research Article: A comparative analysis of health-related and individual quality of life in people with Parkinson’s disease
Abstract:
Quality of life (Qol) results from a complex interplay of physical, mental, and social aspects. Traditional assessments of Qol may not adequately describe well-being in serious chronic illness such as in people with Parkinson’s disease (PwPD). This cross-sectional observational study explores differences and similarities of assessment through Health-Related Qol (HRQoL) versus individual Qol, measured as Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual Qol (SEIQoL), and analyzes the relative contributions of the most common psychological difficulties (anxiety, depression, apathy) in Parkinson’s disease. 48 PwPD (mean age: 67?years; IQR: 60.25–72.75; 12 women) completed SEIQoL and Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaires (PDQ-39) for HRQoL. In addition, measures for anxiety, depression, apathy, cognitive function, daytime sleepiness, and motor performance were obtained. Multiple linear regression was performed with both QoL summary indices as dependent variables. Interestingly, HRQoL and SEIQoL were not correlated to each other. Of all psychological difficulties only anxiety was a significant predictor of HRQoL and only self-rated apathy was a significant predictor of SEIQoL. High daytime sleepiness and medication doses were associated with lower HRQoL. In contrast, SEIQoL showed that family, relationships, autonomy and health were the most important domains, with health satisfaction being lowest. HRQoL and SEIQoL measure different aspects of QoL. Therefore, in future research studies both should be used together for an adequate assessment of therapies and effective rehabilitation strategies to ease the burden for PwPD.
Introduction:
Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease with one of the fastest growing prevalence (216 cases per 100,000 in 2050) and it projected to increase by 112%, reaching 25.2 million in 2050 ( 1 ). The manifestation of the disease, its progression and response to treatment is very individual ( 2 ). People with Parkinson’s Disease (PwPD) have a higher Disability-Adjusted Life Year (DALY) with respect to the general population ( 3 ). This means that the burden is significant due to the loss of healthy life years…
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