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HealthDay News — For patients with Parkinson disease (PD), racial and ethnic minorities have worse health-related quality of life (HRQoL) than White patients, according to a study published online April 5 in Neurology.
Daniel Garbin Di Luca, M.D., from the Krembil Brain Institute at Toronto Western Hospital, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cross-sectional and longitudinal cohort study of individuals to examine variability in HRQoL and other outcomes in patients with PD. Data were included for 8,514 participants with at least 1 recorded visit (90.2% self-identified as White, 5.81% as Hispanic, 2% as Asian, and 1.9% as African American).
Researchers found that the total 39-item PD questionnaire (PDQ-39) scores were significantly higher in African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians than in Whites (28.56, 26.62, and 25.43 vs 22.73) after adjustment. In most PDQ-39 subscales, this difference was also significant. The inclusion of cognitive scores in the longitudinal analysis significantly decreased the strength of the association of PDQ-39 with race/ethnicity for minority groups. Cognition partially mediated the association between race/ethnicity and PDQ-39 scores in a mediation analysis (proportion mediated, 0.251).
“Evaluating the underlying reasons behind differences in quality of life between racial and ethnic groups is crucial to improve care,” Di Luca said in a statement. “Future studies are needed to gain a better understanding of the reasons for treatment and outcome differences in underrepresented populations, including differences in thinking and memory, clinical care, and quality of life.”
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