Biopsychosocial and Spiritual Aspects of Parkinson Disease

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to systematically examine the scientific literature and report the biopsychosocial and spiritual aspects of persons with Parkinson disease and their adaptation to the disease, to discuss methodological challenges associated with researching this phenomenon, and to propose future research. Synthesis of the literature will reveal the state of the science on the holistic approach to care in persons with Parkinson disease. An exhaustive review of the English language peer-reviewed literature published from January 1961 to July 2011 was conducted utilizing Academic Search Premier, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Psych Articles, Psych Info, PubMed, Wiley InterScience, the Cochrane Center Register for Control Trials, Health and Psychosocial Instruments, and SpringerLink databases. Ninety studies were reviewed. Although numerous medical studies focusing on pharmacological agents for Parkinson disease are reported, there are gaps in the literature on the biopsychosocial, spiritual, and holistic approaches in Parkinson disease care. More research is needed to examine the biopsychosocial and spiritual aspects of persons with Parkinson disease.

Psychosocial Challenges Experienced by Partners of People With Parkinson Disease

“…A diagnosis of PD entails a complex, multidimensional set of challenges not only for the PWP (e.g., Brod, Mendelsohn, & Roberts, 1998;Hermanns et al, 2012;Marr, 1991;Martin, 2014) but for the partner as well, as shown by the current study. The study's conclusions about partners' caregiving and noncaregiving challenges are reviewed and discussed in light of previous research.…”

“…Men are more likely than women to be diagnosed with the disease (NINDS, 2014). PD has been associated with a variety of biopsychosocial challenges (see Hermanns, Deal, & Haas, 2012, for a review). The primary physical symptoms of PD are related to difficulty with movement and can include tremor on one or both sides of the body, rigidity, bradykinesia (i.e., slowness), and lack of balance.…”

Using Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network data to examine depression in patients with a diagnosis of Parkinson disease: a retrospective cohort study

“…18 Our results are comparable to past work not completed in primary care, whereby depression is reported in up to 50% of patients with Parkinson disease. [11][12][13] The sex difference in the prevalence of depression in our study is lower than in the Canadian population. 32 It is possible that sex differences diminish with age, 32 which may be reflective of the study's older sample of patients.…”

Emotional dysfunctions in neurodegenerative diseases

“…Depression is assumed to be the most distressing psychological burden in PD (Hermanns et al, ). Clinically significant depression reaches 35%, with 17% of the patients suffering from major depression (Reijnders et al, ).…”

“…Clinically significant depression reaches 35%, with 17% of the patients suffering from major depression (Reijnders et al, ). Depressive symptoms are found to be prevalent already at early stages of the disease (Hermanns et al, ) and seem to be modified by the availability of coping strategies (Hurt et al, ; Rod et al, ).…”