The development and validation of a short measure of functioning and well being for individuals with Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Parkinson's disease is a common degenerative neurological condition. A number of general health status measures exist but these may not address areas salient to specific diseases. We report here the development and validation of a short 39 item health status questionnaire for use in Parkinson's disease. Questionnaire items, generated from in-depth interviews with people with Parkinson's disease, were developed into a 65 item questionnaire. Data from a postal survey using the 65 item questionnaire were statistically analysed to produce a shorter questionnaire with 39 items and eight scales addressing different dimensions of Parkinson's disease. A second postal survey was conducted in order to assess the reliability and validity of the new 39 item questionnaire. The final questionnaire, referred to here as the 39 item Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39), proved to have satisfactory internal and test-retest reliability, and construct validity in relation to other measures, reported by respondents with Parkinson's disease.

Validity and reliability testing of the Chinese (mainland) version of the 39-item Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39)

“…This suggests that the grouping of the items in these two dimensions is not good and they need be improved. For nearly half the scales, the floor effect was observed in social support (43.7%), communication (26.8%), and stigma (32.4%) dimensions, similar to Singapore and the UK (Peto et al, 1995;Luo et al, 2005). It should be noted that the floor effects are not related to the various translations.…”

“…Extensive evaluation of a PD patient's quality of life is currently possible with a number of questionnaires. The Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39), developed by Peto et al (1995), has been tested in many languages and widely used to evaluate the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of PD patients in many western countries (Peto et al, 1995;Martínez-Martín and Frades Payo, 1998;Bushnell and Martin, 1999;Katsarou et al, 2001;Marinus et al, 2008).…”

Factors associated with motor complications in Parkinson's disease

“…For the screening of cognitive impairment, the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) was performed (Folstein, Folstein, & McHugh, 1975). For the purpose of evaluation of quality of life, the Parkinson's Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire (PDQ‐39) was used (Peto, Jenkinson, Fitzpatrick, & Greenhall, 1995). …”

Negative impact of borderline global cognitive scores on quality of life after subthalamic nucleus stimulation in Parkinson's disease

“…QoL was assessed with the Parkinson's disease questionnaire (PDQ-39) [9,10]. The PDQ-39 is a 39-item questionnaire with a total score that ranges from 0 to 100 with higher scores indicating worse function.…”