The quality of life in Parkinson's disease

TLDR

The study aims to assess quality of life in Parkinson’s disease patients using the SF‑36 and to improve it by recognizing and treating depression. The authors evaluated 228 community‑based Parkinson’s disease patients with the SF‑36, examining associations between quality of life and age, age at onset, disease duration, Hoehn‑Yahr stage, depression, and dementia. Women with Parkinson’s disease reported poorer quality of life, with depression—more prevalent in women—being the strongest predictor of SF‑36 scores, while clinical stage was the only other factor significantly linked to physical functioning.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the quality of life in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) in a community-based sample (n = 228 patients) using a Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) as a measure. Associations to the variables age, age at onset, duration, clinical stage (Hoehn and Yahr), depression (Zung), and dementia (MMSE) were studied. Women scored significantly lower on five of the eight dimensions of SF-36. Depression, as measured in this study, was more common among parkinsonian women than men. Depression was the factor that was associated most significantly with the experienced quality of life, according to SF-36. With physical functioning, only the clinical stage had a more significant association than depression. To improve the quality of life in patients with PD, it is necessary to make every effort to recognize and relieve the depression of patients with PD.