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. 2022 Mar;12(3):e2517.
doi: 10.1002/brb3.2517. Epub 2022 Feb 9.

The quality of life in patients with Parkinson's disease: Focus on gender difference

Detao Meng  1 , Zhaohui Jin  1 , Lei Gao  1 , Yixuan Wang  1 , Ruidan Wang  1 , Jinping Fang  1 , Lin Qi  1 , Yuan Su  1 , Aixian Liu  1 , Boyan Fang  1
Affiliations

The quality of life in patients with Parkinson's disease: Focus on gender difference

Detao Meng et al. Brain Behav. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

Background: To improve understanding of gender differences on quality of life (QoL) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PWP) of a different race, the differences of clinical features and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) between male and female PWP were studied in a small cohort early to middle stage of Chinese PWP.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out. PWP were consecutively included from April 2020 to July 2021 in Beijing Rehabilitation Hospital. HRQoL, motor symptoms, and nonmotor symptoms in each patient were evaluated. The differences of demographic, motor symptoms assessments, nonmotor symptoms assessments, and QoL between two gender groups were tested using t-test statistics, Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test, or χ2 depending on the data type. To eliminate the possible factors contributing to the QoL, linear regression models were constructed to sort out the effect of gender.

Results: One hundred and sixty-two Parkinson's disease (PD) patients were included. Demographic, clinical characteristics, and symptom scale assessments had no statistical differences except for levodopa equivalent daily dose, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Score, REM sleep behavior disorder sleep questionnaire, and Hyposmia Rating Scale score. After baseline imbalance corrections, a significantly higher score of PD Questionnaire-39 (PDQ-39) in female than in male patients(p<.05) was found. In the questionnaire, summary Index and bodily discomfort, stigma, and emotional well-being subscores were the main contribution differences.

Conclusions: Gender differences are associated with the QoL in the early to middle stage PWP in China. Female patients have poorer QoL than male patients, especially bodily discomfort, stigma, and emotional well-being.

Keywords: PDQ-39; Parkinson's disease; gender; health-related quality of life.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Polar plot for the different PDQ‐39 domains depending on gender differences. Female patients had higher scores compared to male patients on bodily discomfort, stigma, and emotional well‐being (p<.05). Abbreviations: ADL, activities of daily living; PDQ‐39, Parkinson's disease Questionnaire‐39
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