Correlation between depression and quality of life in patients with Parkinson's disease

To understand the distribution of Parkinson's disease questionnaire-39 (PDQ-39) scores in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with or without depression, and to analyze the factors that influence the quality of life of PD patients.

300 PD patients were enrolled. Patients' general information and the results of assessments including UPDRS, H-Y, HAMD, HAMA, ADL and PDQ-39 were collected. They were divided into depression group and non-depression group according to HAMD score. The relationship between PD-related depression and quality of life and the factors that influence the quality of life of PD patients were analyzed based on PDQ-39 score.

111 patients with depression (37.0 %) and 189 patients without depression (63.0 %) were enrolled. The scores of PDQ-39 summary index (PDQ-39 SI) in the depression group were significantly higher than those in the non-depression group in all domains (P < 0.05). Patients in the depression group had a longer disease duration (6.89 ± 4.70 vs. 5.52 ± 4.12, P < 0.038), a higher UPDRS-III score (30.1 ± 13.55 vs. 25.2 ± 11.73, P < 0.001), and a higher H-Y stage level (2.41 ± 0.853 vs. 2.13 ± 0.707, P < 0.001), compared with patients in the non-depression group. All factors including age, disease duration, UPDRS-III, H-Y stage, HAMD score and HAMA score, may independently affected PDQ-39SI in PD patients, among which HAMD had the greatest effect. HAMD and HAMA were correlated with PDQ-39 in its all eight domains.

PD patients with psychological problems such as anxiety and depression may lead to a significant decline in the quality of life of patients in all domains.