The Evaluation of Quality of Life of Relatives Caring for Patients with Parkinson’s Disease

Objective: To evaluate quality of life (QoL) of relatives taking care of patients with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (IDP). Methods: Sixty patients with IPD and 60 patients’ relatives were included into the study, and 50 healthy individuals consisted of the controls. In the study group, the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS)scores and the Hoehn-Yahr Scale (HYS) stages were determined. Depression levels of the IPD patient’s relatives and the controls were measured using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), while pain and fatigue levels were found via the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), and QoL was assessed with shorth form-36 (SF-36). Findings: When the relatives of patients with IPD were compared with the controls, a statistically significance was found between pain, fatigue and depression levels and SF-36 physical and mental component scores. While a positive correlation was observed between patient’s UPDRS scores, and relatives’ BDI, pain and fatigue levels, a negative correlation was found between SF-36 component and SF-36 physical component scores in these groups. Conclusions: Decreasing QoL significantly, IPD is a disorder affecting considerably both patients and their relatives’ lives and not only patients but also their relatives are influenced from the condition on a large scale. As the disease progresses, the influence becomes defined and an increase is seen in clinical findings while a decrease is witnessed in QoL of IPD patients and their relatives