Quality-of-life of patients with Parkinson’s disease

AbstractPrimary objective: To describe factors influencing the QoL of patients with Parkinson’s Disease (PD), as experienced by patients themselves.Research design: A qualitative design was used to investigate which factors influence the QoL of patients with PD as this design allows one to focus sufficiently on (reporting) the experiences of patients and their perspectives.Methods and procedures: Interviews with patients (n = 27) were organized which formed the input for four focus groups and participants were selected by the Dutch Parkinson Association (PV).Main outcomes and results: The results illustrate that patients mentioned a broad array of issues related to their QoL, including intra- and interpersonal factors, quality of care, societal pressure and communication. Participants developed a model symbolizing a radar wheel to illuminate the complex and dynamic inter-relations between the themes affecting their QoL. How the set of factors actually influences a person’s life differs per patient and per...