What Parkinson’s Disease Patients Say in Their Own Words about their Mood and Anxiety Symptoms

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ObjectiveTo understand what Parkinson’s Disease (PD) patients report in their own words about their mood and anxiety problems using the Parkinson’s Disease Patient Report of Problems (PD-PROP). MethodsPatient-reported data from the PD-PROP (reporting most bothersome problems due to PD in their own words), Geriatric Depression Scale, MDS-UPDRS II, and the Euro-Q0L from the Fox Insight research database https://foxinsight.michaeljfox.org/ were examined using cross-sectional comparisons and logistic regression analyses to characterize non-depressive mood symptoms and anxiety. ResultsWe identified 21,487 participants who completed at least one PD-PROP questionnaire. Four categories of non-depressive mood symptoms (Anxiety/Worry, Loneliness/Isolation, Negative Emotions NOS (Not Otherwise Specified), Death/Suicidal Ideation) were identified. Women were much more likely than men to report non-depressive mood symptoms as a bothersome PD-related problem. The frequency of Anxiety/Worry reporting decreased with longer duration of PD while Loneliness/Isolation increased. More severe PD motor impairment, as measured by the MDS-UPDRS II, was associated with increased reporting of Negative Emotions and Loneliness/Isolation. Higher Euro-QoL, indicating better quality of life, was associated with decreased reporting of Loneliness/Isolation. Death/Suicidal Ideation was only reported by a small number of participants (<0.5%). ConclusionsWomen were more likely than men with PD to identify Anxiety/Worry, Negative Emotions, and Loneliness/Isolation as problems. This finding and the higher prevalence of bothersome loneliness/isolation as PD duration increases can guide monitoring for these issues.