Use of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment Short Version in Mild to Moderate Parkinson Disease.
Sarah K Hendred, Erin R Foster
PMID 27343346WHAT IT FOUND
The WHOQOL-BREF showed people with mild to moderate Parkinson disease reported lower quality of life than controls in physical, psychological, social, overall, and health satisfaction, but not environment.
Fatigue, depression, apathy, and daily function related more closely to quality of life than motor scores.
Key findings
01People with Parkinson disease reported lower Physical, Psychological, Social, Overall QOL, and General Health Satisfaction scores than controls, but Environment scores were not lower.
02The WHOQOL-BREF showed excellent internal consistency for the full questionnaire and questionable reliability for the Social domain.
03Quality of life was not associated with motor score, while non-motor impairments and daily activity limitations correlated with almost all quality of life domains.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study included only mild to moderate Parkinson disease and excluded people with suspected dementia, other neurological conditions, brain surgery, psychosis, or non-English speakers, so it does not apply to advanced disease or cognitive impairment. The Parkinson disease and control groups differed in race and depression scores, so some quality of life differences may not be due only to Parkinson disease. The supplied text does not state the total number of participants, so the sample size cannot be checked. The Social domain had questionable reliability, so its score should be interpreted cautiously. Overall QOL had a ceiling effect, so it may not discriminate well among people with high scores. This was a cross-sectional questionnaire study, so it cannot show change over time, test-retest reliability, sensitivity to change, or causation. The assessment battery did not cover all factors that can affect quality of life, such as mobility, autonomic dysfunction, social function, and environment. Education was handled as a continuous score even though it is really a set of ordered levels.
Declared interests
The supplied text does not include an author conflict-of-interest declaration. The article is listed as supported by non-U.S. government and NIH extramural research funding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat the WHOQOL-BREF as a proven tool for all Parkinson disease or for measuring treatment change. The study included only mild to moderate disease and did not test retest reliability or sensitivity to change.