Below is a summary of “Quality of life and living with Parkinson’s: a qualitative investigation in the Irish context”, published in the August 2024 issue of neurology by Cassidy et al.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic, unpredictable disease with a significant impact on quality of life, with most studies focusing on quantitative measurements.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to qualitatively examine the complexity of self-reported quality of life in PD.

They conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 PD patients from the first phase of a mixed methods study using a qualitative-descriptive approach, focusing on factors influencing health-related quality of life. Participants were selected based on PDQ-39 SI scores, with 6 having high, 6 having average, and 6 having low quality of life (n = 6 for each group). Audio recordings were transcribed and analyzed thematically following the steps of Braun and Clarke (familiarization, generating initial codes, searching for themes, reviewing, defining, naming, and preparing the report).

The results revealed four main themes: “Living a disrupted life,” “Striving for the ‘self’ in independence,” “Untangling identities, roles and relationships,” and “Redesigning life.” The themes highlighted the experiences of people with PD and the factors that impact overall quality of life.

The researchers concluded that Parkinson’s disease significantly impairs quality of life through fluctuating motor and non-motor symptoms and that independence, a positive attitude and social engagement have a positive impact on well-being.

Source: bmcneurol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12883-024-03769-y