Family Functioning and Communication in Spouses of Patients with Parkinsonism

Abstract

BackgroundPatients with parkinsonism exhibit motor symptoms, cognitive impairment, and neuropsychiatric changes, and these symptoms increase caregiver burden. Family dynamics can be influenced by the presence of comorbidities, which is especially important in diseases causing caregiver burden. We investigated the effects of spousal parkinsonism on family functioning and communication.MethodsCouples without parkinsonism, who visited hospital-based family practices, were recruited by 28 family physicians from 22 hospitals between April 2009 and June 2011; patients with parkinsonism and their spouses were recruited from a single institution. The participants completed questionnaires on demographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, family functioning (the Korean version of the Family Adaptation and Cohesion Evaluation Scale [FACES] III), and family communication (the Family Communication Scale of the FACES-IV). We compared family functioning and communication between spouses of the patients with and without parkinsonism.ResultsThe mean family adaptability and cohesion scores of the spouses of the patients with parkinsonism were 23.09±6.48 and 32.40±8.43, respectively, whereas those of the control group were 23.84±5.88 and 34.89±7.59, respectively. Family functioning and family communication were significantly different between the spouses of individuals with and without parkinsonism. After adjusting for age, sex, income, and cardiovascular disease in the logistic regression analysis, family functioning was found to significantly deteriorate in the spouses of patients with parkinsonism but not the control group. Family communication decreased significantly in spouses of patients with parkinsonism.ConclusionFamily functioning and family communication significantly deteriorated in spouses of patients with parkinsonism.

Impact of family communication on self-rated health of couples who visited primary care physicians: A cross-sectional analysis of Family Cohort Study in Primary Care

“…In addition, family communication can be deteriorated when spouses are not healthy. For instance, poor family communication was reported in spouses of patients with Parkinsonism [ 37 ]. In our analyses, the relationship between SRH and family communication was observed only in wives.…”