A multicentre longitudinal observational study of changes in self reported health status in people with Parkinson's disease left untreated at diagnosis

Grosset, D. et al. (2007) A multicentre longitudinal observational study of changes in self reported health status in people with Parkinson's disease left untreated at diagnosis. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 78(5), pp. 465-469. (doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2006.098327) (PMID:17098846) (PMCID:PMC2117846)

Abstract

Background: The issue of when to start treatment in Parkinson’s disease (PD) remains controversial. Some favour treatment at diagnosis while others opt for a “wait and watch” policy. The effect of the latter policy on the self reported health status of people with PD is unknown. Aims: To record self reported health status through longitudinal use of a validated PD specific questionnaire (PDQ-39) in untreated PD patients in multiple centres in the UK. To compare patients who were left untreated with those who were offered treatment during follow-up. Methods: A multicentre, prospective, “real life” observational audit based study addressing patient reported outcomes in relation to self reported health status and other sociodemographic details. Results: 198 untreated PD were assessed over a mean period of 18 months. During two follow-up assessments, the self reported health status scores in all eight domains of the PDQ-39 and the overall PDQ-39 summary index worsened significantly (p<0.01) in patients left untreated. In a comparative group in whom treatment was initiated at or soon after diagnosis, there was a trend towards improvement in self reported health status scores after treatment was started. Conclusions: This study addresses for the first time self reported health status, an indicator of health related quality of life, in untreated PD. The findings may strengthen the call for re-evaluation of the policy to delay treatment in newly diagnosed patients with PD.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Grosset, Professor Donald
• Authors: Grosset, D., Taurah, L., Burn, D.J., MacMahon, D., Forbes, A., Turner, K., Bowron, A., Walker, R., Findley, L., Foster, O., Patel, K., Clough, C., Castleton, B., Smith, S., Carey, G., Murphy, T., Hill, J., Brechany, U., McGee, P., Reading, S., Brand, G., Kelly, L., Breen, K., Ford, S., Baker, M., Williams, A., Hearne, J., Qizilbash, N., and Chaudhuri, K. R.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Psychology & Neuroscience
• Journal Name: Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry
• Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
• ISSN: 0022-3050
• ISSN (Online): 1468-330X
• Published Online: 10 November 2006