Category: Parkinson's Disease: Non-Motor Symptoms
Objective: To determine the correlation between fatigue, sleep dysfunction and health-related quality of life in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients.
Background: Fatigue and sleep dysfunction are two of the most frequent non-motor symptoms in PD with great implications in the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of PD patients.
Method: 107 patients with Parkinson’s disease were included in the present study. The Parkinson’s Disease Fatigue Scale (PFS-16) with a cut-off score of 3.3 or higher was used to assess the presence of fatigue. Sleep dysfunction was screened with Parkinson’s Disease Sleep Scale-2 (PDSS-2), Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson’s Disease – Sleep (SCOPA-Sleep) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). Mood disorders were assessed with Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ). Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire-39 (PDQ-39) was used to evaluate the quality of life of patients included in the study. Clinical assessment of patients with PD included the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale part III (MDS-UPDRS III) and Modified Hoehn and Yahr (H-Y) stage.
Results: We identified fatigue in 41 (38.3%) patients out of whom 17 (41.4%) were male. PD patients with fatigue had longer disease duration compared to PD patients without fatigue (5.7 ± 5.0 years vs. 4.8 ±4.0 years, p=0.3) as well as higher PDSS-2 (32.6± 8.8 vs. 21.5± 9.3, p<0.0001) and SCOPA-Sleep scores (18.1± 5.1 vs. 11.6± 5.9, p<0.0001). Patients with fatigue reported increased daytime somnolence as by ESS scores and poorer quality of life, with higher PDQ-39 Summary Index (PDQ-39 SI) scores compared to those without fatigue (33.4± 13.2 vs. 21.1± 13.4, p<0.0001). Depression and anxiety were more frequent in the fatigue group (9.8±3.2 vs. 6.5±3.3 and 7.5±3.6 vs. 4.2±3.0 respectively, p<0.0001) with lower happiness scores. There were no significant differences in age, H-Y and MDS-UPDRS scores between the two groups.
Conclusion: Fatigue was found in approximately one-third of PD patients included in our study. There is a strong association between fatigue and sleep and mood disorders. Fatigue has a substantial negative impact on HRQL of PD patients.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
EL. Ungureanu, S. Berzunțeanu, ș. Diaconu, A. Zârnoveanu, T. Drăgan, B. Ciocănescu, R. Filip, N. Enache, C. Falup-Pecurariu. Correlation between fatigue, sleep dysfunction and health-related quality of life in Parkinson’s disease patients [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2023; 38 (suppl 1). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/correlation-between-fatigue-sleep-dysfunction-and-health-related-quality-of-life-in-parkinsons-disease-patients/. Accessed June 15, 2025.« Back to 2023 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/correlation-between-fatigue-sleep-dysfunction-and-health-related-quality-of-life-in-parkinsons-disease-patients/