ABSTRACT
Objective: To investigate the social vulnerability impact on motor and non-motor worsening in people living with PD during the COVID- 19 pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed a large variety of unparalleled challenges, many of which appear to be disproportionately impacting the mental and physical health of people living in different social vulnerability condition. People living with Parkinson's disease (PD) experimented a clinical worsening during the pandemic explained by multidimensional factors (Silva-Batista et al.,2021). Methods: One hundred people with a confirmed diagnosis of Idiopathic PD, 45 females, mean age of 67.3 years (SD = 9.2), in stage 1-3 of disease evolution according to Hoehn and Yahr classification, participated in the present study. After presenting the informed consent form, and expressing agreement to participate in the study, participants were asked to answer, through telephone interviews, a previously established questionnaire that investigates: (1) general information;(2) socioeconomic status;(3) information associated with PD;(4) quality of life worsening;(5) health conditions related to COVID-19;(6) mental health worsening;(7) fear of falling;(8) level of physical activity;(9) cognitive health conditions and (10) motor and non-motor aspects of daily life experience. The participants were divided into two groups, according to the social vulnerability condition: high social vulnerability group (HSV) and low social vulnerability group (LSG). The comparison in worsening severity of all factors between the two groups was analyzed by ANOVA one-way. Results: The groups were comparable in demographic and clinical aspects. The ANOVA showed a significant statistical difference between the groups only for pain (F(1,95) = 6.98, p = .009), urinary problems (F (1,96) = 4.47 p = .03), and apathy F(1,95) = 4.52, p = .03). The Tukey post-hoc confirmed a more severe worsening for HSV (p < .001). Conclusion: People with PD living in a high social vulnerability condition demonstrated increased non-motor worsening during the COVID-19 pandemic. These results emphasize the importance of developing support social and health assistance to alleviate the social vulnerability impact during the COVID-19 pandemic and other similar unexpected stress situations on people living with PD.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To investigate the gender differences in the motor and non-motor worsening associated with COVID-19 pandemic in people living with PD. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed a large variety of unparalleled challenges, many of which appear to be disproportionately impacting the mental health and well-being of men and women. People living with Parkinson's disease (PD) experimented a clinical worsening during the pandemic explained by multidimensional factors, however, gender was not one of them. Investigate the gender influence on the response to adverse effects of stressful effects of unexpected conditions may help to guide preventive programs for people living with PD. Methods: 100 people with Idiopathic PD, 45 females, mean age of 67.3 years (SD = 9.2), in stage 1-3 of disease evolution according to H&Y classification, participated in the present study. After expressing agreement to participate in the study, participants were asked to answer, through telephone interviews, a previously established questionnaire that investigates: (1) general information;(2) socio-economic status;(3) information associated with PD;(4) quality of life worsening;(5) health conditions related to COVID-19;(6) mental health worsening;(7) fear of falling;(8) level of physical activity;(9) cognitive health conditions and (10) motor and non-motor aspects of DLA. The participants were divided into two groups, according to gender. The comparison in worsening severity of all factors between the two groups (male and female), was analyzed by ANOVA one-way. Results: The groups were comparable in demographic and clinical aspects. The ANOVA showed a significant statistical difference between the groups only for discouragement, sadness, hopelessness (F(1, 95) = 5.6, p = .01) and adaptation difficulty (F(1, 95) = 11.4, p = .001. The Tukey post-hoc confirmed a more severe worsening of mental health in females (p < .001). Conclusion: Females living with PD demonstrated higher levels of discouragement, sadness, hopelessness, and higher difficulty to adapt the social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. These results emphasize the importance of developing support assistance to mitigate the extensive negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and other similar unexpected stress situations on people living with PD, as also of the development of specific interventions to the gendered impacts on mental health and well-being.