ABSTRACT
The subjective sense of well being is central to the concept of quality of life (QoL) and a good QoL should be the ultimate goal to any therapeutic measure. In Parkinson's disease (PD), several rating scale are in vogue to measure the QoL, namely PDQ-39, PDQ-8, SF-36, Likert scale etc. Parkinson's Impact Scale (PIMS) has been used in this study to assess the QoL which includes 10 items. METHODOLOGY: Thirty two patients of Parkinson's disease satisfying the UK Parkinson's disease brain bank diagnostic criteria, ranging from HY stage I to IV have been recruited. UPDRS was also administered to them. Statistical analysis was performed using Spearman rank correlation and multivariate stepwise regression analysis using SPSS for windows. RESULT: Seventy two percents were male, all getting levodopa, 72% got anticholinergics. Monthly income varied from Rs.800 (US dollars 17.10) to Rs.15,000 (US dollars 320) pm. Eighty eight percent belonged to HY II-III. UPDRS score ranged from 3-85 (40.4 +/- 18.6). PIMS total score ranged from 1-22 (10.4 +/- 6.1). DISCUSSION AND CONSLUSION: The QoL deteriorates with H-Y staging, the UPDRS score, not with advancing age as seen in other studies. It is also significantly influenced by duration of the disease and financial security. Surprisingly, the family and community relations were not significantly affected with advancing disease, perhaps due the close family and social tie up among Indians. So, measurement of QoL should be made an essential part to the routine assessment of PD patients to get a complete scenario of the problem. PIMS can serve as a comprehensive tool for the same suitable for use in the OPD.