Care requirements of a prevalent population of people with idiopathic Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative condition in the UK. Care needs increase as the disease progresses, but there are very few published data in relation to this. Objective: the aim of this study was to elicit the care requirements for a prevalent PD population and compare these to a similarly aged background population. Methods: all people diagnosed with idiopathic PD from within a defined area of north-east England were asked to participate in this study. Those who agreed to participate were assessed using a number of standard rating scales including Hoehn and Yahr stage, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Parkinson's Disease Questionaire-39 and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). In addition, participants were asked whether they had experienced hallucinations. Social and demographic information (e.g. age, sex and place of abode) was also recorded. Results: from all cases (n=161), 135 people (83.8%) agreed to participate. Of these, 19 (14.1%) were living in residential or nursing homes, representing 1.6% of the total nursing/residential home residents in the study area. Participants had a mean age of 74.8 years and disease duration of 5.6 years. Those in care were significantly older and had significantly poorer Hoehn and Yahr, MMSE and UPDRS scores. Conclusion: PD patients in institutional care have poorer cognitive function, are older, have later stage disease and worse functional ability than those living at home.