The Development of the Social Functioning Scale for Patients with Parkinson’s Disease

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Su, Fang-Te^a | Tai, Chun-Hwei^b | Tan, Chun-Hsiang^{c; d} | Hwang, Wen-Juh^e | Yu, Rwei-Ling^{a; f; *}

Affiliations: [a] Institute of Behavioral Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan | [b] Department of Neurology, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan | [c] Department of Neurology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan | [d] Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan | [e] Living Water Neurological Clinic, Tainan, Taiwan | [f] Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Rwei-Ling Yu, PhD, Institute of Behavioral Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, No. 1, University Road, Tainan City 701, Taiwan. Tel.: +886 6 2353535 5102; Fax: +886 6 209 5616; E-mail: lingyu@mail.ncku.edu.tw.

Abstract: Background:Social functioning is crucial for the determinants of Parkinson’s disease (PD) with dementia; however, there is no social functioning scale applicable to PD. Objective:This study aimed to develop a social functioning scale specific to PD (PDSFS) and provide a cut-off score to improve diagnosis accuracy. Methods:The items were developed through literature, interview patients, and PD expertise. After the pilot study, one hundred fifty-seven patients and 74 healthy participants were enrolled and completed the Mini-Mental State Examination, Clock Drawing Test, Activities of Daily Living, Neuropsychiatric Inventory, Adaptive Behavior Assessment System–Second Edition (ABAS–II) and part III of the Movement Disorder Society-sponsored revision of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS–UPDRS). Results:The final PDSFS has 23 items. The exploratory factor analysis revealed three factors, including “Family Life, Hobbies and Self-Care”, “Interpersonal Relationship and Recreational Leisure”, and “Social Bond”. The internal consistency coefficient was 0.883, and the test-retest reliability was 0.774, respectively. The total score of the PDSFS was significantly related to the total score of ABAS–II (r = 0.609, p < 0.001), and was not correlated with the third part of MDS–UPDRS (p = 0.736). A significant intergroup difference was found (p < 0.001), and the healthy controls had the highest PDSFS score, followed by non-demented PD and PD dementia. The optimal cut-off score for PD patients with dementia was 39 (sensitivity: 0.735; specificity: 0.857). Conclusions:PDSFS is a practical and psychometrically sound tool to access the social functioning of the PD population.

Keywords: Parkinson’s disease, cognitive impairment, social functioning, inventory, reliability, validity

DOI: 10.3233/JPD-201930

Journal: Journal of Parkinson's Disease, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 1143-1151, 2020