Depressive symptoms impacting on health-related quality of life in early Parkinson's disease: results from Chinese L-dopa exposed cohort.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the impact of depressive symptoms on health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) in a group of patients with early Parkinson's disease (PD).


METHODS
A 20-item scale, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD) and a 36-item questionnaire, the medical outcomes study short form (SF-36) were administered as part of baseline assessment of a clinical trial in PD, enrolling 391 early-stage, L-dopa exposed PD patients in China. We used multiple regression models to examine the relationship of depressive symptoms, measured by the CESD with HR-QOL, as measured by the SF-36. The SF-36 score of the depressed patients was compared with those non-depressed, as well.


RESULTS
A total of 146 (37.3%) patients screened positive for depression. Compared with those non-depressed, depressed patients had lower scores in all dimensions of SF-36 profile (p<0.001). Multiple regression analysis revealed that depressive symptoms, measured by CESD, increased our ability to explain the variance of SF-36 total score by 34.5%. Additionally, depressive symptom is the only variable which has the predictive value not only for total SF-36 total score, but also for each subdimension score of SF-36 profile.


CONCLUSIONS
Depressive symptoms are common early in the disease, having a substantial impact on patients' HR-QOL, affecting many areas other than the obvious mental health dimension of the HR-QOL profile. Our results highlight the broad importance of treating depression in this population.
Qin
Zhaohui
Z
Department of Neurobiology, Institute of Geriatrics of Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, No 45, Chang Chun Street, Beijing 100053, China.
Zhang
Liyan
L
Sun
Fei
F
Liu
Hongjun
H
Fang
Xianghua
X
Chan
Piu
P
D000368:Aged; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D032902:Ganoderma; D006801:Humans; D007980:Levodopa / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D008517:Phytotherapy; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D007980:Levodopa