Quality of life in parkinson`s disease

Abstract

As sessment of quality of life in Parkinson`s disease with Bulgarian version of Parkinson`s Disease Questionnaire- 39 (PDQ- 39). Sixty patients are assessed in the study of QoL, by means of a specialized questionnaire (PDQ- 39), validated in Bulgaria. The distribution of patients was as follows: 31 males, 29 females, aged 64,28 ±7,19 years, 5,47 ±2,53 years of disease duration, 15 at each first 4 stages according to Hoehn- Yahr scale. The Bulgarian version of the disease- specific questionnaire PDQ- 39 was used for assessment of quality of life in Parkinson`s disease. The results were analyzed using ANOVA, One sample t test, Tukey Post Hoc analysis and Pearson`s correlation analysis. We found highest results for the domains ADL- 42,21 and Mobility- 41,17. Patients in Hoehn- Yahr I group demonstrate higher results for the Mobility domain - 17,94, followed by ADL- 13,61. Patients from Hoehn- Yahr II, III and IV groups have higher values for ADL, followed by Mobility. Other domains for all patients and each severity group have significantly lower values. The disease severity (higher Hoehn- Yahr stage) has a significant (p stages of the disease when the severity is not yet marked. The analysis shows statistically significant influence of rigidity and bradikynesia as predominant motor symptoms on the decrease of QoL in our patients. These patients have higher SI values for the whole contingent and for each different severity group. Our results confirm the significance of the disease severity on all PDQ - 39 items. We found parallel positive correlation between UPDRS part III and total score with the SI values. The obtained data indicate higher correlation index with UPDRS total than the part III, which demonstrate the complex impact of PD on patients QoL, because the total scale includes not only motor symptoms (part III) but also cognition, emotional status and ADL. Our results confirm and concretize the information about the use of PDQ- 39 in PD patients at the first 4 Hoehn- Yahr stages and the impact of the clinical characteristics of the disease on the subjective evaluation of QoL. The analysis allows us to underline once more the necessity of application of specialized questionnaires in addition to routine clinical rating scales.