Browsing by Author "OBESE, VIDA"

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    QUALITY OF LIFE OF PATIENTS WITH PARKINSON’S DISEASE IN THE CENTRAL BELT OF GHANA
    (OBESE VIDA, 2023-01-03) OBESE, VIDA
    Rationale/objectives of the study: The complications of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) have been found to impact on the patients’ Quality of life (QoL). There is a paucity of studies assessing QoL in developing countries such as Ghana. This study principally sought to examine the factors associated with the QoL in patients with idiopathic PD in the neurology clinic of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Ghana. It assessed the associations between QoL and the extent of motor and non-motor complications, stigma, depression, and cognitive impairment among patients with Parkinson’s disease. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a consecutive sample of 161 PD patients receiving treatment from the neurology clinic at KATH. Structured questionnaires were used for data collection. Parkinson’s disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39) was used, motor and non-motor symptoms assessed using the MDS-UPDRS and Beck depression inventory (BDI) for assessment of depression. Global cognitive performance was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale (MoCA) and stigma evaluated withthe 24-item stigma scale for chronic illness (SSCI). Ethical clearance was obtained from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Institutional Review Board. The consent of patients was sought, and data gathered was password protected. The data were organized under the research objectives for analysis. ANOVA and independent sampled t-test was used to analyse differences in QoL among patients with different socio-demographic characteristics. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to determine the factors that best account for variance in QoL scores. Multivariate linear regression model analysis was used to assess the effects of motor and non-motor variables on the QoL of PD patients. Results: There were 161 participants in this study with an average age of men (n = 114) and women (n = 47) being 65.2 ± 4.96 and 65.5 ± 5.01 respectively. The mean (± SD) non-motor severity score was 41.8 ± 21.6 and that for the motor severity score was 37.1± 20.5 On the Hoehn and Yahr scale, nearly a third (31.7%) of participants were in stage 3. Overall, the mean PDQ-39 Summary Index (PD8-39 SI) was 37.2 ± 17.1 The mean score of the items on the stigma scale was 62.36±14.49. Majority (65.8%) of the study participants had mild cognitive impairment and almost half (44.1%) were moderately depressed. Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that participant’s cognition (β= -0.65, p-value= 0.031), depression(β = 0.52, p-value =0.013) and stigma status (β= 0.51, p-value <0.0001) were independently associated with overall QoL. Conclusions: This study has identified stigma, depression and cognitive performance as independent factors significantly associated with overall health related QoL of individuals living with idiopathic PD in the central belt of Ghana. While non-motor complications were associated with QoL in limited multivariate linear regression models conducted in our study, their associations were lost in the fully adjusted regression models. Screening for depression, stigma and cognitive impairment should be done routinely at neurology clinics and integration of psychosocial support into the care of PD.