Anxiety Symptoms and Disease Severity in Parkinson Disease.
Ainslie Whitmarsh, Suzy Protea, Jessie S Gibson
PMID 38959338WHAT IT FOUND
In 72 people with Parkinson disease, higher self-reported disease severity, being off or wearing off medication, and younger age were linked to more anxiety symptoms.
Anxiety and severity were mild to mild-moderate.
Key findings
01After controlling for the other measured factors, greater disease severity, younger age, and being off or wearing off medication were significantly associated with more anxiety symptoms.
02The five factors together accounted for approximately 37% of the variability in anxiety symptoms.
03Participants reported mild disease severity (median 10.5) and mild-moderate anxiety symptoms (median 17).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study used cross-sectional survey data, so it cannot show whether disease severity, medication wearing off, or age caused anxiety. Only 72 people were analyzed, and the small sample limited the number of factors that could be included in the model. The sample was overwhelmingly White and non-Hispanic, so the findings may not apply to more diverse patients. Most participants had mild disease severity and mild-moderate anxiety, so the results say little about advanced Parkinson disease or severe anxiety. The anxiety measure asked about the past week, while medication wearing off was recorded at survey completion, so it is unclear whether wearing off reflects actual anxiety or a current perception.
Declared interests
The article states that J.S.G. receives funding from the National Institute of Nursing Research (K23NR020210), and portions of this work were completed with that funding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that worsening Parkinson disease causes anxiety or that screening changes outcomes. The survey measured both at one time and included mostly mild cases.