Depressive symptoms and perception of quality of life in Parkinson's disease.

BACKGROUND

Depression has been proposed as a major contributor to poor quality of life (QoL) in Parkinson's disease (PD).

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the relationship between depressive symptoms and QoL in subjects with PD.

METHOD

Beck Depression Inventary (BDI) was used to evaluate depressive symptoms and Parkinson's Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire (PDQ-39) to assess the perception of the QoL.

RESULTS

Thirty seven patients (19 male/ 18 female) with a typical onset PD and mean disease duration of 7.7 years were studied. Higher scores on BDI correlated with poorer perception of the QoL. This association occurred at the expense of the following PDQ39 domains: mobility, activities of daily living, social support, cognition and emotional well-being dimensions. PD severity also correlated with QoL.

CONCLUSION

Our study corroborates the assumption that depressive symptoms contributed significantly to QoL in PD.