Weight loss and impact on quality of life in Parkinson's disease.
BACKGROUND
Weight loss is common in Parkinson's Disease (PD) and sometimes may precede the diagnosis. Weight loss is associated with multiple factors but its impact on health-related quality of life (HRQL) in PD remains unknown. We sought to investigate the factors associated with weight change and to quantify its effect on HRQL.


METHODS
The National Parkinson Foundation Quality Improvement Initiative (NPF-QII) data was used to analyze PD patients longitudinally between two visits, separated by 12 ± 6 months. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to assess the associations between baseline covariates and body weight change per month, and to evaluate whether, and to what degree, Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39) scores were affected.


RESULTS
A higher Hoehn & Yahr stage, higher number of comorbidities, older age, lower MOCA estimate, and higher rate of levodopa usage were observed in patients who lost weight. Multivariate regression analysis indicated that age and levodopa usage were significantly associated with weight loss. Furthermore, monthly body weight loss was significantly associated with HRQL decline in PD patients. Loss of 1 lb (0.45 kg) per month was associated with a decline in QOL: an increase of 0.5% in PDQ-39 Summary Index score (p=0.004), and 1.1% and 1.5% increases in the mobility and ADL dimensions, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Weight loss in PD is common and seems to correlate with worsened HRQL. Awareness of factors associated with weight loss and its relation to HRQL may help practitioners improve patient management and expectations.
Department of Neurology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America.
Umer
U
Akbar
Department of Mathematics, Clarkson University, Potsdam, New York, United States of America.
Ying
Y
He
Department of Biostatistics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.
Yunfeng
Y
Dai
Department of Neurology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.
Nawaz
N
Hack
Department of Neurology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.
Irene
I
Malaty
Department of Neurology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.
Nikolaus R
NR
McFarland
Department of Neurology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.
Christopher
C
Hess
National Parkinson Foundation, Miami, Florida, United States of America.
Peter
P
Schmidt
Department of Biostatistics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.
Samuel
S
Wu
Department of Neurology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.
Michael S
MS
Okun
D000368:Aged; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015431:Weight Loss