title: Health-related quality of life as a predictor of recurrent falling in Parkinson's disease: 1-year follow-up study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to assess whether various domains related to health-related quality of life could be predictive of recurrent falls among persons with Parkinson's disease (PD) during a 1-year follow-up study.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 120 consecutive persons with PD who had denied falling in past 6 months were recruited at regular check-ups at the Department of Movement Disorders, Neurology Clinic, Clinical Center of Serbia in Belgrade, from 15 August 2011 to 15 December 2012. At baseline, study participants were clinically assessed. Health-related quality of life was evaluated with the generic 36-item Short Form Health Survey. Participants were prospectively followed for 1 year, and occurrence of falls was registered.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median age of subjects was 60.0 years, with a median disease duration of 4.0 years. Of 120 persons with PD, 42 (35%) experienced falls during the 12-month study period, including 23 (19.2%) who fell repeatedly. After adjustment for gender, age, PD duration, levodopa dosage, Hoehn and Yahr stage, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale I-IV, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scales, we identified the 36-item Short Form Health Survey domains of role physical (P = 0.033) and vitality (P = 0.019) as being associated with recurrent falls of persons with PD within the 1-year follow-up period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Baseline 36-item Short Form Health Survey scores regarding both the physical and mental components of overall health may be related to recurrent falling among persons with PD. These HRQoL domains could be considered as potential markers for persons with PD who are prone to recurrent falls.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Tatjana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gazibara
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Darija
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kisic-Tepavcevic
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Neurology, Clinical Center of Serbia, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Svetel
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Neurology, Clinical Center of Serbia, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Aleksandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tomic
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Neurology, Clinical Center of Serbia, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Iva
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Stankovic
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Neurology, Clinical Center of Serbia, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Vladimir S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Kostic
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Tatjana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pekmezovic
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D055771:Serbia; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Parkinson's disease; health-related quality of life; recurrent falls