Quality of life predicts rehabilitation prognosis in Parkinson's disease patients: Factors influence rehabilitation prognosis

Abstract

Background: Rehabilitation has been reported to improve the quality of life (QoL) of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Nevertheless, not all patients are satisfied with rehabilitation outcomes and could achieve a significant improvement in QoL. Objective: To detect possible predictors of QoL improvement in patients with PD after rehabilitation. Methods: A total of 86 PD patients were included and followed up for 3 months with a 39-item Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire summary index (PDQ-39 SI) as the primary endpoint. All patients received 2 weeks of multidisciplinary intensive rehabilitation treatment (MIRT). Changes in patients' QoL were assessed using the PDQ-39 at baseline and at the 3-month follow-up. The reliable change index (RCI) was adapted to determine the individual QoL outcome. The predictors of QoL outcome were detected using logistic regression analysis. Results: After a 3-month follow-up, PDQ-39 SI decreased significantly from 22.95 ± 9.75 to 18.73 ± 10.32 (P < 0.001). Scores for QoL improved (RCI>10.9) after rehabilitation for 18.6% of the patients, and 74.4% of patients reported an unchanged QoL (−10.9≤RCI≤10.9), while 7.0% of patients reported a worsening of QoL (RCI < 0.001). Conclusions: MIRT could improve QoL for some patients with PD, and PDQ-39 score at baseline is the most important predictor for QoL improvements after rehabilitation for this patients.