Objective: To compare motor and non-motor dysfunction, quality of life (QoL), and caregiver burden (CB) between women and men living with PD, and its relationship to the gender of their caregivers.
Background: Despite the efforts to achieve equal access to healthcare, there are still gender biases that lead to a deficiency in healthcare and the right to care for women worldwide. Women living with PD (WPD) report different symptoms, are less diagnosed, have more frequent side effects, receive lower quality in care, and have less social support than men living with PD (MPD). Gender inequities may affect the patient-caregiver dyad, which must be explored.
Method: A multicenter cross-sectional study was carried out. WPD and MPD variables registered were gender, age, education years (y), PD evolution in y, LEDD, MDS-UPDRS III and IV, MDS-NMS, MDS-NMS-NMF, and PDQ-39i. Caregivers’ age, gender, education y, and ZCBI-12 were obtained. A multivariate logistic regression was performed.
Results: 45 Hispanic Mexican WPD and MPD participants (53.3% females; 60.9±11.2 years old) were included. Mean PD evolution in years, LEDD, MDS-UPDRS3, MDS-UPDRS4, MDS-NMS, and PDQ-39i were 8.2±5.5, 829±468.3, 28.1±13.5, 3.7±5.3, 74.6±79.3, 12.4±15.4, and 20.5±15.9, respectively. The prevalence of caregiver burden was 26.7% using the ZCBI-12. Student-t test showed higher scores in MDS-NMS and PDQ-39i in WPD than in MPD (p=0.004, p=0.044). Spearman’s correlation (rs) was statistically significant between ZCBI and MDS-NMS (rs=0.35, p=0.019), ZCBI and PDQ-39i (rs=0.30, p=0.04), and between ZCBI and MDS-UPDRS3 (rs=0.38, p=0.01). In the logistic regression analysis, caregiver gender and MDS-NMS total score were independent risk factors.
Conclusion: Although no statistically significant differences were observed among WPD and MPD in relationship to the gender of their caregivers, gender inequities are evident in our population. The non-motor symptoms and the caregiver gender showed a relation to caregiver burden in PD. Further analysis is needed to determine the direct impact of gender inequities in the patient-caregiver dyad in PD.
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To cite this abstract in AMA style:
AJ. Hernández-Medrano, DP. Romero-Terán, MA. Ruiz-Mafud, MAG. Medrano-Delgado, MF. Medina-Pérez, AY. Regalado-Mustafá, DR. Aguila-Godinez, LG. Lira-Juarez, A. Domínguez-García, G. Hernández-Armesto, EC. Santiago-Delacruz, AA. Herrera-Ruiz, K. Talavera Lagunas, GI. Cerda-Hernández, A. Alcocer-Salas, JF. García-Hernández, RA. Abundes-Corona, A. Cervantes-Arriaga, M. Rodríguez-Violante. Gender inequities in people living with PD and their caregivers’ burden in Mexican population [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2023; 38 (suppl 1). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/gender-inequities-in-people-living-with-pd-and-their-caregivers-burden-in-mexican-population/. Accessed June 15, 2025.« Back to 2023 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/gender-inequities-in-people-living-with-pd-and-their-caregivers-burden-in-mexican-population/