Objective: To test the psychometric properties of the newly developed Parkinson’s Disease Stigma Questionnaire (PDStigmaQuest).

Background: Stigma is a significant aspect of Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, there is currently no specific tool available to assess and evaluate the complex construct of stigma in PD.

Method: This multi-center, cross-sectional study included PD patients and healthy controls. The dimensionality of the PDStigmaQuest was examined through exploratory factor analysis. Acceptability and psychometric properties were analyzed. PDStigmaQuest scores of patients and healthy controls were compared.

Results: In total, 201 PD patients and 101 healthy controls were included in the final analysis. Results suggested high data quality with 0.0001 % missing data in the PDStigmaQuest for PD patients and no missing data for controls. The exploratory factor analysis produced four factors: felt stigma, hiding, enacted stigma: rejection, and enacted stigma: patronization, explaining 47.9 % of variance. An optional domain for employed patients was included. Moderate floor effects and skewness, but no ceiling effects were found. Cronbach’s alpha of 0.85 indicated high internal consistency. Test-retest reliability was high (r_s = 0.83). PDStigmaQuest scores correlated significantly with other stigma measures (r_s = 0.56-0.69) and were significantly higher in patients with depressive symptoms than in those without.

Conclusion: The new patient-completed, 18-item PDStigmaQuest showed strong psychometric properties of validity and reliability. The results suggest that the PDStigmaQuest can be used to assess and evaluate stigma comprehensively in PD, which will help to understand further the construct of PD stigma.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/validation-study-of-the-parkinsons-disease-stigma-questionnaire-pdstigmaquest/