Worse QoL Seen for Parkinson Patients With Depressed Caregivers

FRIDAY, Aug. 11, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with Parkinson disease (PD), those whose caregivers have depression symptoms have worse quality of life (QOL) and higher emergency department use, according to a study published online Aug. 11 in JAMA Network Open.

Rudmila Rashid, M.D., from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues examined the association between caregivers reporting depression symptoms and patient QOL, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations in a retrospective cohort study conducted at 15 centers within the United States. A convenience sample of 454 patients with PD and their caregivers was recruited.

The researchers found an association for greater depression symptoms among caregivers with worse patient QOL as measured by the Parkinson Disease Questionnaire (mean score, 33.78 versus 24.50 on a scale of 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating worse QOL, for patients with caregivers who did and did not have depression symptoms, respectively). In addition, greater depression symptoms among caregivers were associated with more annual emergency department visits, but no association was seen with more hospitalizations.

"Additional caregiving resources and interventions to reduce depression symptoms among caregivers could potentially improve patient outcomes," the authors write.

One author disclosed personal fees from Genentech and Mediflix.

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