Health Related Quality of Life among Patients with Parkinson's Disease Attending the Institute of Neurology National Hospital of Sri Lanka Kalyani Hewa Haputhanthirige Nadeesha1,*, Thanthrige Rekha Sarangi2 1Lecturer in Physiotherapy, Allied Health Sciences Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka 2Physiotherapist, Lanka Hospitals Private Limited, Sri Lanka *Corresponding author Hewa Haputhanthirige Nadeesha Kalyani Lecturer in Physiotherapy 104, Nagaha Watta, Elawella Road, Matara, Sri Lanka
Online published on 28 September, 2015. Abstract Background Parkinson's disease (PD) is a slowly progressive disease of the nervous system marked by tremor, muscular rigidity, and slow, imprecise movement. Those patients with PD are confronted with physical, psychological, and psychosocial issues that impact quality of life (QoL). Aims To assess the health related QoL among PD patients attending the Institute of Neurology National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL). The main domains assessed were mobility, activities of daily living, emotional wellbeing, stigma, social support, cognitive impairment, communication and bodily discomfort. Method This descriptive study was conducted with 96 PD patients who are attending the PD clinic of the Institute of Neurology NHSL. The Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ 39) was used as the study instrument. Results/Procedure Details In PD patients, their ability to engage in leisure activities, household work, walking and getting around in public are the highest affected. (Mobility domain: Mean = 52.76). Secondly affected domain is the communication. (Mean = 50.00) which includes speech and communication skills. The activities of daily living are also affected with highest impact on the skills of writing and cutting up food. Stigma and cognition are moderately affected. The least affected domain is the social support (mean = 25.17) which indicates the support from spouse and family. Conclusion Mobility and communication have the highest negative impact on QOL in PD patients. Level of depression has negatively affected on emotional wellbeing. PD patients do not lack family and social support much. Top Keywords Parkinson's disease, Quality of Life. Top |