Quality of life of main caregivers of patients with Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Objective To examine the caregivers' burden and quality of life (QOL) of main caregivers of patients with Parkinson's disease by analyzing caregiver and patient-related factors. Methods A total of 53 cases with Parkinson's disease seen from October 2012 to December 2013 in Yantaishan hospital of Yantai City were selected. Assessments: (a) EuroQol-5 questionnaires, including: EQ-5 dimensions (EQ -5d) and visual analogue scale (VAS). (b) Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale. (c) Hoehn-Yahr(H-Y) stage; (d) Parkinson's disease sleep scale (PDSS), 15 items; (e) Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMD-14), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMA-24); (f) Chinese version of Zarit caregiver burden interview. Results Spearman correlation analysis showed that the EQ-5D index and EQ-VAS negatively correlated with HAMD-14 of caregivers of Parkinson diseasepatients (r=- 0.318, - 0.046) (P< 0.05), and negatively correlated with H-Y staging (r=-0.592, -0.531), UPDRSI (r=-0.434, -0.316) , UPDRS Ⅱ (r=0.521, 0.513) , UPDRS Ⅲ (r=0.520, 0.534), UPDRS Ⅳ (r=0.564, 0.509), PDSS in patients with Parkinson's disease (r=0.547, 0.490), HAMD-14 (r=0.315, 0.350), HAMA-24 (r=0.413, 0.401) of Parkinson's disease patients (P<0.05). Caregiver burden was related with HAMD-14 (r=0.496), HAMA-24 (r=0.551), H-Y stage (r=0.697), PDSS (r=0.659), UPDRS Ⅰ-Ⅳ (r=0.538, 0.668, 0.696, 0.600), EQ-5D index of Parkinson disease patients (r=0.682), EQ-VAS of Parkinson disease patients (r=0.670) (P<0.05); and positively related with anxiety of caregivers (r=0.275) , and a negative correlation with the caregivers' quality of lives (r=0.665) (P<0.05). Bivariate analyses showed significant correlations between caregiver burden and patients' sleep, scores of Parkinson's motor symptoms, and caregivers' depression. Based on multiple regression analysis, Zarit score proved to be the main predictor of caregivers' QOL. Caregivers' age, total numbers of caregivers and H-Y stage also proved to be a relevant factor. Conclusion Improvement of patient's sleep, motor symptoms and depression might alleviate caregivers' strain. There is a correlation between caregivers' burden and QOL. QOL of caregivers can be improved through reducing their care-burden. Key words: Parkinson disease; Quality of life; Caregivers; Questionnaires