The impact of the quarantine period due to the pandemic on the severity of Parkinson's disease and the quality of life of Parkinson's patients.

OBJECTIVE

The COVID-19 pandemic has a significant impact on the physical and mental health of people around the world. Parkinson's patients need to visit hospitals regularly to evaluate and adjust the dosage of drugs. Studies have shown that anxiety, exacerbated by existing conditions ‒ including the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic ‒ can aggravate the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. This study aims to assess the impact of the quarantine period on the severity of movement symptoms, quality of life, non-motor symptoms, and the relationship with sex, education level, and age in patients with Parkinson's disease.

METHODS

This descriptive cross-sectional study includes 200 patients with Parkinson's disease who were treated in Bu Ali Hospital from April 2019 to the end of 2021. Primary data was collected using the patients' files, which included information on age, gender, education level, medications and dosage, duration of Parkinson's disease, the severity of the disease was evaluated based on the Hohen and Yehr (H&Y) criteria, and Quality of Life (QOL) and the impact of the quarantine period on their illness and quality of life has been collected through the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39) questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software, descriptive statistics, t-test, and analysis of variance.

RESULTS

The quarantine period has a significant effect on the severity of Parkinson's disease and quality of life. The mean severity of the disease increased from 2.85 before quarantine to 3.30 during quarantine (p < 0.05), indicating an increase in motor symptoms. Similarly, quality of life scores in all dimensions decreased from 62.8 before quarantine to 48.2 during quarantine (p < 0.05), indicating a decrease in quality of life. Pearson's correlation test was used to investigate the relationship between age and the change in patients' quality of life and the change in disease severity (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The quarantine period due to the COVID-19 epidemic has had a significant impact on the severity of Parkinson's disease and the quality of life of patients. The findings of this study indicate the need to develop strategies to provide better health care, social support, and physical activity for patients with Parkinson's disease during quarantine and the pandemic.