The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Disease Severity and Quality of Life in Parkinson's Disease.
Background
The challenges being faced during the lockdown period may worsen motor or non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD).


Objective
This study was undertaken to investigate the impact of lockdown on the disease activity, caregiver perceptions and the quality of life of patients with PD.


Materials and Methods
This cross-sectional study was conducted from June till September 2020. Sixty-four patients with PD and caregivers were interviewed telephonically after obtaining consent. The responses were recorded by means of a structured questionnaire. Non-motor symptoms scale (NMSS) and the Parkinson Disease Questinnaire-8 (PDQ-8) were applied. PDQ-8 severity index (PDQ-8 SI) scores were expressed as percentage of the raw PDQ-8 score of the total score. Data were analsyed by using SPSS version 20.0.


Results
Of 64 patients, 39 (60.9%) were men and 25 (39.1%) were women. The overall median age of the patients was 65 (55.25-69.75) years. The median duration was 48 (30-84) months. Twenty-six (40.6%) patients reported symptomatic worsening during the lockdown period. Slowness in activities of daily living and walking worsened in 15 (57.7%) and 14 (53.8%) patients, respectively, while tremors increased in 12 (46.2%) patients. Mood and sleep disturbances were the most common non-motor symptoms to worsen. Increase in non-motor symptoms and the NMSS total score were independent predictors of PDQ-8 scores. Increase in non-motor symptoms during the lockdown was an independent predictor of the highest quartile of PDQ-8 SI scores.


Conclusions
Motor and non-motor symptoms have worsened in patients with PD during the lockdown. The increase in non-motor symptoms was independently associated with poorer quality of life among patients with PD during the lockdown.
['Saluja|Alvee|A|', 'Parihar|Jasmine|J|', 'Garg|Divyani|D|', 'Dhamija|Rajinder K|RK|']
COVID-19 quality of life Parkinson's disease lockdown non-motor symptoms