Correlates of psychological distress in Parkinson's disease patients during the COVID‐19 outbreak

Abstract Background Following the severe consequences of the COVID‐19 outbreak, on March 9th, 2020 the Italian Government implemented extraordinary measures to limit viral transmission, including restrictive quarantine measures. This resulted in a rapid and profound change of people's daily‐lif...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Movement Disorders Clinical Practice 2020
Main Authors: De Micco, Rosa, Siciliano, Mattia, Sant'Elia, Valeria, Giordano, Alfonso, Russo, Antonio, Tedeschi, Gioacchino, Tessitore, Alessandro
Format: Web Resource
Language:English
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Summary:Abstract Background Following the severe consequences of the COVID‐19 outbreak, on March 9th, 2020 the Italian Government implemented extraordinary measures to limit viral transmission, including restrictive quarantine measures. This resulted in a rapid and profound change of people's daily‐life. Objective We assessed the psychological impact of 40‐days quarantine in a large cohort of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and caregivers. Moreover, we analyzed whether pre‐lockdown clinical features may be associated with subjective response of patients with PD to this traumatic event. Methods Ninety‐four PD patients were enrolled in the study. The Impact of Event Scale‐Revised, the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale and the 12‐item Zarit Burden Inventory were obtained from patients and caregivers by email. A multivariate regression analysis was performed to determine whether pre‐lockdown clinical motor and non‐motor features were associated with the psychological impact of lockdown. Results Regression analyses showed that pre‐lockdown levels of anxiety, treatment‐related motor complications, patients' quality of life and lockdown‐hours per day were significantly associated with psychological impact's measures of 40‐days quarantine. In addition, we showed that caregivers' burden was correlated with overall patients' autonomy and attention/memory impairment. Conclusions We identified specific PD motor and non‐motor features potentially predisposing to higher psychological impact of stressful situations, such as quarantine. This may help guide post‐pandemic interventions and preventive strategies to avoid further impairment of psychological well‐being in patients with PD.
DOI:10.1002/mdc3.13108