title: Life satisfaction and associated factors in persons with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Life satisfaction (LS) is an overall goal in the long-term management and rehabilitation of persons with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, very little is known about LS in persons with PD and no study has examined factors associated with their LS.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe LS in persons with mild to moderate PD and to evaluate the association with gender, age, years since diagnosis, and sense of coherence, perceived participation, and mental and emotional status.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty persons with mild to moderate PD (46 men and 34 women, mean age 70.1 years, mean time since diagnosis 7.4 years) responded to a postal survey with the Swedish versions of the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), the Sense of Coherence scale (SOC-13), the Reintegration to Normal Living Index (RNLI) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-20). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to evaluate the association with LS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean SWLS total score was 21.8 points, and 45% rated themselves as satisfied to highly satisfied with their lives. SOC and years since diagnosis explained 36% of the variance, where a strong SOC, indicating a person's capacity to adapt to the overall strains of the disease, showed the strongest association with a high LS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Persons with mild to moderate PD seem to be generally satisfied with their lives but LS may decrease as the disease progresses. The strong association with SOC implies that LS may increase through rehabilitation that support persons with PD to understand and confront the nature of problems arising in their lives as a result of their PD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Rehabilitation Medicine Research Group, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rosengren
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Physiotherapy Research Group, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.|Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brogårdh
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Rehabilitation Medicine Research Group, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.|Department of Health Science, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden.|Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Sunderby Hospital, Luleå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jacobsson
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Rehabilitation Medicine Research Group, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.|Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden.|Department of Health Science, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lexell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D060685:Sense of Coherence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D058992:Social Participation / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Activities of daily living; Parkinson’s disease; disability evaluation; health services for persons 
  with disabilities; quality of life; questionnaires; rehabilitation; sense of coherence