Measuring participation in individuals with Parkinson disease: relationships with disease severity, quality of life, and mobility.

PURPOSE: Our aims were to: (1) describe participation in people with Parkinson disease (PD), (2) evaluate the relationship between quality of life and participation and (3) determine the mobility measures which are predictive of participation.

METHODS: Participants with idiopathic PD (n = 62) were tested off medication for participation (Activity Card Sort), quality of life (PDQ-39), disease severity (MDS-UPDRS) and mobility (Berg Balance Scale, Five Time Sit to Stand (FTSTS), Six Minute Walk, forward walking velocity, dual-task walking velocity and Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (FOGQ)). Relationships of all variables to participation were examined using Pearson correlations. Subsequent regression analysis was employed to determine the mobility measures which best predicted the participation.

RESULTS: Participants with PD retained, on average, 78.3% (SD = 15.6%) of total activities. Participation was negatively correlated with all PDQ-39 domains (r range -0.36 to -0.78, all p < 0.005) with the mobility domain having the strongest correlation. All mobility measures were significantly correlated with participation, with the final regression model including only FTSTS and FOGQ which combined explained 37% of the variance in participation.

CONCLUSIONS: Participation is highly related to mobility-related QOL and may be most impacted by ability to stand up from a chair and freezing of gait in those with PD.