Objective: Assess measures on health-related quality-of-life, and anxiety and depression in patients with cervical dystonia attending University Hospital specialist clinic.

Background: Non-motor symptoms are a feature of cervical dystonia and can affect quality-of-life, despite effective therapy with botulinum toxin. It has been postulated; disordered subcortical mechanisms related to the interpretation of salient emotional stimuli might be a factor in their pathogenesis.

Methods: We prospectively collected data on health-related quality-of-life(HrQoL) and anxiety and depression measures in patients with cervical dystonia attending a University Hospital specialist clinic. Cervical Dystonia Impact Profile–58(CDIP-58) assessed HrQoL; mood disorder was assessed via Beck Anxiety Index(BAI-II) and Beck Depression Index(BDI-II); dystonia severity was assessed using the TWSTRS-2 severity-scale and pain-scale

Results: The 38 patients who completed all assessments indicated: 1): HrQoL measured by the CDIP-58 inversely correlated with depression by the BDI(r2 = 0.39; p< 0.0001), anxiety by BAI-II(r2 = 0.43; p< 0.0001). 2):HrQoL measured by the CDIP-58 significantly inversely correlated with the TWSTRS Pain scale(r2 = 0.30; p = 0.0004) but not with dystonia severity measured by TWSTRS-2(r2 = 0.09; p= 0.064). 3):The TWSTRS–2Severity-Scale correlated weakly with the BAI(p =0.037), and the CDIP sub scales sleep(r2 = 0.13; p= 0.02), Head & neck (r2 = 0.24; p = 0.002), pain(r2 = 0.13;p = 0.026).

Conclusions: Initial findings from this patient cohort suggest that self-report measures, are a valid measure of the impact of cervical dystonia in everyday life highlighting the importance of psychological symptomatology in . These findings also question the sensitivity and relevance of the measurement of dystonia severity by physicians using the TWSTRS–2 Severity-Scale.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/trust-the-patient-not-the-doctor-health-related-quality-of-life-in-cervical-dystonia/