PDQ-39: a review of the development, validation and application of a Parkinson’s disease quality of life questionnaire and its associated measures

Abstract

Parkinson's disease is a common degenerative neurological condition. A number of general instruments exist to measure quality of life, but these were not designed to address areas salient to a specific disease. This contribution reviews the development and validation of the PDQ-39, a short 39-item quality of life questionnaire for Parkinson's disease. PDQ-39 data can be presented either in profile form or as a single index. This report also reviews the development and validation of a briefer measure (PDQ-8) derived from the PDQ-39, and of two summary indices (PDQ-39SI and PDQ-8SI.

Depressive symptoms and perception of quality of life in Parkinson's disease

“…The PDQ-39 is a questionnaire with 39 items covering eight discrete dimensions: mobility (10 items), activities of daily living (6 items), emotional well-being (6 items), stigma (4 items), social support (3 items), cognition (4 items), communication (3 items), and bodily discomfort (3 items) 15 . The score for each item ranges from zero (0) to four (4): "never"=0; "occasionally"=1; "sometimes"=2; "often"=3; "always"=4.…”

“…There are different instruments to assess QoL in PD. The Parkinson's Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire (PDQ-39) is a well-validated, disease-specific questionnaire for PD and is one of the most used instruments 15 . A Brazilian version of PDQ-39 has been validated recently 16 .…”

Neuroticism and extraversion in association with quality of life in patients with Parkinson’s disease

“…In response to each question, respondents select from answers ranging from never (0), occasionally (1), sometimes (2), often (3) and always (4). Each scale and the summary index were transformed in order to have a range from 0 (= no problem at all) to 100 (= maximum level of a problem) [28]. We translated the questionnaire from its original source [28] into the Slovak language and then translated it back into English using another translator.…”

“…Each scale and the summary index were transformed in order to have a range from 0 (= no problem at all) to 100 (= maximum level of a problem) [28]. We translated the questionnaire from its original source [28] into the Slovak language and then translated it back into English using another translator. Two Slovak native speakers with mastery of the English language first translated the questionnaires from English into Slovak.…”

Validation study of Sinhala version of the dermatology life quality index (DLQI)

“…A few questions from SF-36 which were thought to be most relevant to patients with skin diseases were selected and was used in a randomly selected sub sample of 125 patients. A moderate correlation (Pearson r=0.40 -0.70) between the DLQI and the SF-36 components was considered to be adequate [7].…”