The impact of associated large-fiber peripheral neuropathy on health-related quality of life in Parkinson’s disease – results from a Romanian cohort

Abstract

Background. Recent studies described a higher prevalence of peripheral neuropathy (PN) in Parkinson’s disease that was linked to L-Dopa exposure. Peripheral neuropathies are known causes of a decreased health-related quality of life (HrQoL). Until now, no studies addressed the issue of how or if associated PN in PD affects HrQoL. Methods. In a cross-sectional, observational study, 73 non-demented PD patients, from which 36 with confirmed PN based on clinical (using the Toronto Clinical Neuropathy Scale-TCSS) and nerve conduction studies completed the Romanian version of PDQ-39. Results. Significant differences between mean scores in Motor (49.86 (27.61) vs. 31.50 (26.24), p = 0.005), Activities of daily living (49.86 (27.61) vs. 31.75 (30.10), p = 0.003) and body discomfort (52.54 (29.54) vs. 23.64 (18.48), p =0.002) domains of PDQ-39 in the PN-PD group versus non-PN group were observed. TCSS significantly correlated to motor, emotional well-being and body discomfort domains (r = 0.406 p< 0.001; r = 0.316 p = 0.007; r = 0.356 p = 0.002, respectively). The multivariate linear regression model showed that motor impairment and PN correlated to motor domain (beta = 0.601, p = 0.000; beta = 0.211 p = 0.041, respectively) and PN significantly correlated to body discomfort domain (beta = 0.314, p = 0.020) of PDQ-39. Conclusions. The presence of associated PN in PD determines a further deterioration of HrQol in subjects with already a poorer HrQol.

Keywords

• parkinson’s disease
• quality of life
• large-fiber neuropathy