Affiliations: [a]
Department of Health Sciences, Rehabilitation Medicine Research Group, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| [b]
Department of Health Sciences, Physiotherapy Research Group, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| [c]
Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden
| [d]
Department of Health Science, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden
| [e]
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Sunderby Hospital, Luleå, Sweden
Correspondence:
[*]
Address for correspondence: Lina Rosengren, MD, Department of Health Sciences, PO BOX 157, Lund University, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden. Tel.: +46 46 222 1991; Fax: +46 46 222 1808; E-mail: lina.rosengren@med.lu.se.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Life satisfaction (LS) is an overall goal in the long-term management and rehabilitation of persons with Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, very little is known about LS in persons with PD and no study has examined factors associated with their LS. OBJECTIVE: To describe LS in persons with mild to moderate PD and to evaluate the association with gender, age, years since diagnosis, and sense of coherence, perceived participation, and mental and emotional status. METHODS: Eighty persons with mild to moderate PD (46 men and 34 women, mean age 70.1 years, mean time since diagnosis 7.4 years) responded to a postal survey with the Swedish versions of the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), the Sense of Coherence scale (SOC-13), the Reintegration to Normal Living Index (RNLI) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-20). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to evaluate the association with LS. RESULTS: The mean SWLS total score was 21.8 points, and 45% rated themselves as satisfied to highly satisfied with their lives. SOC and years since diagnosis explained 36% of the variance, where a strong SOC, indicating a person’s capacity to adapt to the overall strains of the disease, showed the strongest association with a high LS. CONCLUSIONS: Persons with mild to moderate PD seem to be generally satisfied with their lives but LS may decrease as the disease progresses. The strong association with SOC implies that LS may increase through rehabilitation that support persons with PD to understand and confront the nature of problems arising in their lives as a result of their PD.
Keywords: Activities of daily living, disability evaluation, health services for persons
with disabilities, Parkinson’s disease, quality of life, questionnaires, rehabilitation, sense of coherence
