Comparação da qualidade de vida de idosos com e sem doença de Parkinson em estágio inicial: estudo observacional

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the quality of life of elderly people with early-stage Parkinson's disease (PD) and compare it with a matched control group. Method: A cross-sectional study carried out in four care centers for the elderly in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. The study population was 226-elderly. The simple random sample consisted of 162 elderly people, 81 elderly people with PD and 81 elderly people without PD. The sample calculation considered a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of 5%. The recruitment of the elderly took place by telephone through the responsible researcher. The modified Hoehn & Yahr scale was used to assess the degree of diseaserelated disability. The WHOQOL-brief was used to assess the quality of life of the elderly. BMI was used to assess nutritional risk. Simple absolute and relative frequencies were calculated for categorical data. In the analysis of the quantitative data, to accept the hypothesis of normality using the Shapiro-Wilk test, the mean and the standard deviation (SD) were calculated and, in the rejection of the hypothesis of normality, the median and the interquartile range were calculated. (IIQ) to demonstrate the difference between Q3 (75%) and Q1 (25%). The parametric tstudent test was applied to calculate the mean and standard deviation of the categorical variable’s height, weight and BMI and the amplitude of height and weight of the data that assumed normal distribution. The non-parametric Mann-Whitney test was applied to two independent samples to compare the median ages of the sampled groups with equal means. Pearson's test was used to measure the correlation and verify the homogeneity between the nominal categorical variables gender (male and female) of the sampled groups. In the analyses, Minitab version 17 for Windows was used and the significance level set in the statistical tests was 5%. Results: Baseline and follow-up data show a homogeneous distribution by sex (male 51.2% and female 48.8%), the predominance of the age group 65 to 70 years (Q2 = 68.5), and differences were observed statistically significant in the baseline characteristics among the elderly who were included in the present study (n = 162) when comparing the variables sex, age and BMI of the control and Parkinson's groups of the elderly sample, with a difference for the weight (0.039) and BMI (0.012). Of the 8-elderly people with early-stage PD, the data showed a classification of degree of disability with a predominant frequency in mild stages from 1.5 to 2, followed by moderate stages from 2.5 to 3. The predominance of characteristics of unilateral and axial involvement (stage 1.5) and bilateral disease without balance deficit (stage 2) indicates a low severity of PD. There was a predominance of features of unilateral and axial involvement (stage 1.5) and bilateral disease without balance deficit (stage 2). For all domains, the median quality of life score was lower in the Parkinson's Group and, in the comparison between the control (without PD) and Parkinson's (with PD) groups, the results showed a statistical difference at the level of 5% of significance in relation to all averages. Conclusion: the quality of life of elderly people with early-stage PD, sampled by sex, age, weight, height, and BMI, when compared with elderly people without PD, shows a significant difference in terms of physical, psychological, social relationships, and environment.