Determinants of quality of life in Brazilian patients with Parkinson's disease

Our objective was to identify determinants of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a cohort of Brazilian patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Patients were evaluated by means of the Hoehn and Yahr staging (H&Y), Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), Schwab and England scale (S&E), Mini-Mental State Exam, Geriatric Depression Scale, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). HRQol was assessed using the MOS-Short-Form 36 (SF-36), the Parkinson's disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39), and the Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson's Disease-Psychosocial Questionnaire (SCOPA-PS). 144 patients were evaluated (mean age 62 years; 53.5% men; mean duration of illness 6.6 years; median H&Y, 2 (range: 1-4). Mean SCOPA-PS and PDQ-39 Summary Index (SI) were 39.2 and 40.7, respectively. Both, PDQ-39 and SCOPA-PS SIs correlated at a moderate level (r = 0.30-0.50) with H&Y, S&E, total UPDRS, HADS subscales, and SF-36 Physical and Mental Components. PDQ-39 and SCOPA-PS were closely associated (r = 0.73). HRQoL significantly deteriorated as H&Y progressed, as a whole. Mood disturbances, disability, motor complications, and education were independent predictors of HRQoL in the multivariate analysis model. In PD Brazilian patients, HRQoL correlated significantly with diverse measures of severity. Depression showed to be the most consistent determinant of HRQoL, followed by disability, motor complications, and education years. There was a close association between the PDQ-39 and SCOPA-PS summary scores. (c) 2007 Movement Disorder Society.