Occupational performance in Huntington's disease: A cross-sectional study

Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor dysfunction, cognitive impairment, and psychiatric disorders. These symptoms cause functional limitations in occupational performance. This study aimed to describe the difficulties in self-care, productivity, and leisure activities and to analyze the patients' own perception and satisfaction and the association with sex, age, disability, HD severity, and quality of life.

We conducted an observational, retrospective study in 38 patients with HD without cognitive impairment at the Burgos University Hospital. We assessed occupational performance, quality of life, and HD severity with the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure, Short-Form Health Survey 12, Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale, Total Functional Capacity, and the Problems Behavior Assessment.

One hundred sixty-five occupations (median 4, range 2-7) were categorized as self-care (50.90%), leisure (30.30%), and productivity (18.79%). Patients reported a higher degree of satisfaction with the activities prioritized than with the degree of performance. Elderly HD patients reported more satisfaction in leisure and women in self-care. Self-ratings of satisfaction in productivity were associated with higher levels of mental wellbeing.

HD patients have problems with their daily life occupations, particularly with self-care. This underlines the need for assessment tools that capture the complexity of occupations.