Activity engagement and health quality of life in people with Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

Purpose: This descriptive study examined differences in health quality of life (HQoL) and activity engagement in two groups of people with Parkinson’s disease (PD): those who regularly participated in classes offered by the community-based program, Brooklyn Parkinson’s Group (BPg), and a comparison group. Individuals in the comparison group did not participate in any community-based programs for people with PD, and were recruited from a clinic for PD and related disorders (PDRD) in an urban medical center. Method: We enrolled 26 participants; 13 participants were recruited from BPg and 13 from PDRD Clinic. Activity engagement was measured using the Activity Card Sort (ACS) and HQoL was measured using the PD Questionnaire (PDQ-39). Additionally, each participant completed a brief, interview-based questionnaire. Results: A statistically significant difference was found in ACS scores between the BPg and comparison groups. BPg participants showed higher activity retention scores in all domains measured by the ACS. There was no statistically significant difference in PDQ-39 scores. Conclusion: This study provides preliminary evidence that regular participation in community programs like BPg may increase retention rates of activity engagement in people with PD. Participation in BPg programs, though, was not shown to improve HQoL as measured by the PDQ-39.

Implications for Rehabilitation

• Continued participation in a wide repertoire of activities is a valuable rehabilitation goal for clients with Parkinson’s disease (PD).

• People with PD who participate in specially designed community-based programs are more likely to retain a wide repertoire of activity and role engagement, as compared to people with PD who do not have acess to these programs.

• Community activity
• engagement
• Parkinson’s disease
• participation
• quality of life

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge all participants for their time and willingness to be a part of our study. Additionally, we would like to thank Alisha Ohl, PhD, OTR for her assistance with data analysis. Finally, we would like to give special thanks to Olie Westheimer for her generosity in welcoming us into the BPg community.

Declaration of interest

There are no conflicts of interest for any of the authors that are relevant to the contents of the article. There was no external funding for this research, and no involvement of any pharmaceutical or other company. The authors did not receive any medical writing or editorial assistance with the preparation of the article.