Session Information
Date: Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Session Title: Dystonia
Session Time: 1:45pm-3:15pm
Location: Les Muses Terrace, Level 3
Objective: The aim of this study was to assess health-related quality of life in patients with cervical dystonia and assess factors considered to contribute to its impairment.
Background: Background: Adult onset isolated cervical dystonia is a hyperkinetic movement disorder of unknown cause; it is the most common phenotype of adult onset dystonia. Although botulinum toxin is an effective therapy for the motor symptoms, patients with cervical dystonia have a reduced health-related quality of life (HrQoL), with a wide range of nonmotor symptoms.
Method: Participants and methods: Cervical dystonia patients attending a University Hospital clinic for botulinum toxin were assessed by a number of measures considered to contribute to morbidity. These included Utility Values derived from EuroQol 5-Dimension, 5-Level instrument (EQoL-UV), the Cervical Dystonia impact profile–58 (CDIP-58); Beck’s Depression (BDI), Beck’s Anxiety Inventory (BAI-II) and physician-rated measures from the Comprehensive Cervical Dystonia Rating Scale the Toronto Western Spasmodic Torticollis Scale-2 (TWSTRS-2).
Results: Results: In 182 cervical dystonia patients (63% women)(mean age 61y ± 13.3)(mean duration of dystonia: 18.2y), the median EQoL-UV was 0.78 (IQR: 0.62–0.91). There were significant correlations with BAI-II (r2= 0.32) BDI (0.28), sleep quality (0.21) and other subscale measures of the CDIP-58. There was no correlation with the physician administered TWSTRS-2 severity scale. Following multi-variable analysis, the only factor which remained significant in contributing to the HrQoL, measured by the EQoL-UV, was the severity of anxiety assessed by the BAI-II (p=0.0152).
Conclusion: Conclusion: Despite good control of motor symptoms with botulinum toxin, patients with cervical dystonia have a reduced HrQoL; this is significantly affected by prevalent anxiety, which is largely not addressed in the clinic.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
I. Ndukwe, P. Lynch, J. Dover, C. O’Neill, F. O’Keeffe, S. O'Riordan, M. Hutchinson. Health-related quality of life in cervical dystonia; the hidden and unaddressed effect of anxiety [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2019; 34 (suppl 2). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/health-related-quality-of-life-in-cervical-dystonia-the-hidden-and-unaddressed-effect-of-anxiety/. Accessed June 14, 2025.« Back to 2019 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/health-related-quality-of-life-in-cervical-dystonia-the-hidden-and-unaddressed-effect-of-anxiety/