Factors influencing psychological well-being in patients with Parkinson's disease

PLoS One. 2017 Dec 15;12(12):e0189682. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189682. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Background: Both motor and non-motor symptoms could contribute to significant deterioration of psychological well-being in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, its assessment has been only indirectly evaluated using tools based on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), such as the PDQ-39 scale.

Objectives: To evaluate psychological well-being in PD using a specific tool of assessment, the Psychological Well-being Scale (PWS), and its clinical correlates.

Methods: This article reports data of patients' perception of health state, as measured by means of the PWS, from an epidemiological, cross-sectional study conducted in Italian PD patients (FORTE Study). We tested possible relationship between well-being and clinical characteristics including fatigue, depression, sleep disruption and HRQoL.

Results: 272 patients completed the PWS questionnaire. Significant and clinically-relevant correlations were found between PWS total score and Parkinson's Fatigue Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, UPDRS Section I, PD Sleep Scale and PDQ-39 for HRQoL scores. Only clinically negligible correlations were found between PWS and motor scores.

Conclusions: Non-motor symptoms have a significant impact on psychological well-being in PD patients.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Depression / physiopathology
  • Depression / psychology*
  • Fatigue / physiopathology
  • Fatigue / psychology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Italy
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Parkinson Disease / epidemiology*
  • Parkinson Disease / physiopathology
  • Parkinson Disease / psychology*
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
  • Quality of Life
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Surveys and Questionnaires

Grants and funding

Data analysis was based on the FORTE Study Dataset, provided from Lundbeck Italia Spa free of charge. The FORTE Study was sponsored by Lundbeck Italia SpA. The Authors were responsible for study design, interpretation of data, writing and decision to publish. Authors had complete access to the database and vouch for the quality of the analysis.