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. 2019 Aug;34(8):1128-1138.
doi: 10.1002/gps.5137. Epub 2019 May 20.

Social role functioning in Parkinson's disease: A mixed-methods systematic review

Kate Perepezko  1   2 , Jared T Hinkle  1   3 , Melissa D Shepard  1 , Nicole Fischer  1 , Martinus P G Broen  4 , Albert F G Leentjens  5 , Joseph J Gallo  2 , Gregory M Pontone  1
Affiliations

Social role functioning in Parkinson's disease: A mixed-methods systematic review

Kate Perepezko et al. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2019 Aug.

Abstract

Objectives: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that often impedes activities of daily living (ADL) and social functioning. Impairment in these areas can alter social roles by interfering with employment status, household management, friendships, and other relationships. Understanding how PD affects social functioning can help clinicians choose management strategies that mitigate these changes.

Methods: We conducted a mixed-methods systematic review of existing literature on social roles and social functioning in PD. A tailored search strategy in five databases identified 51 full-text reports that fulfilled the inclusion criteria and passed the quality appraisal. We aggregated and analyzed the results from these studies and then created a narrative summary.

Results: Our review demonstrates how PD causes many people to withdraw from their accustomed social roles and experience deficits in corresponding activities. We describe how PD symptoms (eg, tremor, facial masking, and neuropsychiatric symptoms) interfere with relationships (eg, couple, friends, and family) and precipitate earlier departure from the workforce. Additionally, several studies demonstrated that conventional PD therapy has little positive effect on social role functioning.

Conclusions: Our report presents critical insight into how PD affects social functioning and gives direction to future studies and interventions (eg, couple counseling and recreational activities).

Keywords: Parkinson's disease; caregiver; quality of life; social roles.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Consort diagram of the review process
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Distribution of articles based on social role examined and analysis performed
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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