PND34 A PSYCHOMETRIC EVALUATION OF THE REVISED SCOPA DIARY CARD IN PARKINSON'S DISEASE PATIENTS

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: The Scales for Outcomes in Patients with Parkinson's disease Diary Card (SCOPA-DC) is a daily diary designed to measure motor impairment in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with fluctuating symptoms. Previous qualitative research evaluated the content validity of the SCOPA-DC in the US and expanded it to measure non-motor symptoms. The current research examined the psychometric properties of the revised SCOPA-DC. METHODS: A sample of adults age 30 and older with selfreported doctor-confirmed PD were recruited, screened, and consented online from a Knowledge Networks panel. Eligible patients were mailed a study packet that contained the revised SCOPA-DC as well as a training video. The revised SCOPA-DC included 7 non-motor items: fatigue, memory, anxiety, pain, difficulty swallowing, frequent urination, and sweating. The diary was completed 7 times per day for 3 consecutive days. Consistent with the original SCOPA-DC, 3-day scores were calculated for each item. Higher scores indicated greater symptom severity. RESULTS: A total of 101 PD patients completed and returned the revised SCOPA-DC. The sample was 50.5% male and had been diagnosed with PD for an average of 7.4 years. Frequency distributions showed little missing data (approximately 1.0%), although items were generally right-skewed. Fatigue (29.4) and walking (28.7) had the highest mean scores; sweating (7.3) and difficulty swallowing (9.7) had the lowest mean scores. Factor analysis supported a 3-factor solution: mobility, physical functioning, and psychological functioning. These factors demonstrated good internal consistency (alpha = 0.83-0.87) and correlations with health-related quality of life instruments were suggestive of construct validity. CONCLUSIONS: In this US sample of PD patients with varied disease severity, the revised SCOPA-DC exhibited good psychometric properties, including evidence of reliability and validity. Furthermore, patients reported that the revised SCOPA-DC was clear and easy to complete. The revised SCOPA-DC holds promise for measuring a broad spectrum of fluctuating motor and non-motor PD symptoms.