The Impact of Care Provider Depressive Symptoms on Parkinson’s Disease Patient Outcomes
Key Highlights :
Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a degenerative neurological disorder that affects the motor and non-motor functioning of the body. Care providers are a vital source of emotional and physical support for PD patients, providing them with a sense of security and comfort. However, care providers often face increased stress and burnout due to the financial, emotional, and physical demands of caregiving. This can lead to lower care provider efficacy and a lack of reciprocity between PD patients and care providers.
In a recent study published in JAMA Network Open, researchers investigated the impact of care providers’ mental health status on PD patient outcomes. The team conducted the study at 15 PD Foundation Centers of Excellence across the United States (US). A total of 454 PD patients and their care providers were enrolled, and the study’s exposure variable was depression symptoms among caregivers, assessed based on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) scores. The study outcome measures were patient health-associated quality of life (QoL), the number of emergency department (ED) consultations, and hospitalizations per year.
The findings indicated that an increase in depressive symptoms among care providers was related to worse QoL among PD patients, as determined using the 39-item PD Questionnaire (PDQ-39), and an increase in the frequency of yearly ED consultations but not in hospitalizations. Patients who had care providers with no depression symptoms had higher verbal fluency scores than those who had care providers with depression symptoms. In terms of yearly ED visits, there were 686 patient-year data points among 978 events (71%) during which there were no ED visits by patients who had care providers with no increased depression risk, compared to 159 patient-year data points among 257 events (63%) during which there were no ED consultations by patients with care providers who were prone to depression.
The findings of the study suggest that depression among care providers can have a significant impact on PD patient outcomes. To improve PD patient outcomes, it is important to focus on care provider mental health and provide them with adequate support and resources. Innovative methods, such as peer mentoring programs, interdisciplinary home visits, cognitive behavioral treatment for care providers, comprehensive skill and knowledge training, and outpatient palliative care, can help to reduce the care provider burden and improve PD patient outcomes. Future studies should evaluate the beneficial effects of care provider depression therapy on PD patient outcomes and healthcare usage costs.
