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.


METHODS
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.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study corroborates the assumption that depressive symptoms contributed significantly to QoL in PD.
Scalzo
Paula
P
Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte MG, Brazil.
Kummer
Arthur
A
Cardoso
Francisco
F
Teixeira
Antonio Lucio
AL
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index