Parkinson's Disease Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Parkinson's Disease, including details on symptoms, treatment, genetics, medication.

Quality of life in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Behari M, Srivastava AK, Pandey RM

Department of Neurology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, 702 Neuroscience Centre, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi 110029, India. madhuribehari@hotmail.com

We evaluated the quality of life (QoL) in 278 Indian patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) using PDQL questionnaire, with measures various aspects of health status in PD patients including parkinsonian symptoms, systemic symptoms, social and emotional functions. Apart from demographic and treatment details parkinsonian disability and stage was assessed by Hoehn and Yahr stage, Schwab and England scale and UPDRS scores. We conclude that female gender, presence of depression, low degree of independence, higher levodopa dose (>400 mg/day) and higher UPDRS activity of daily living score have the most detrimental impact on QoL in patients with Parkinson's disease. Depression was the most significant factor impairing the QoL and it needs to be treated.

Published 9 May 2005 in Parkinsonism Relat Disord, 11(4): 221-6.
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