Assessing health-related quality of life in patients with Parkinson's disease in a prospective longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVE: To prospectively assess the health-related quality of life (HrQoL) in Parkinson's disease (PD) during 12 months. METHODS: HrQoL was assessed in 145 PD patients using the PD-specific PDQ-39, PDQL and the generic EQ-5D. In addition, clinical rating-scales were used. RESULTS: All scales showed a pronounced effect of PD. In comparison to an age-matched population the EQ-5D was considerably affected. In comparison to baseline, however, there was no significant change in the generic scale but a significant change in the sum-score of disease-specific HrQoL-scales. CONCLUSIONS: Only disease-specific scales were sensitive to change. Further studies are necessary to evaluate the time-dependent change in HrQoL.