Does spouse participation influence quality of life reporting in patients with Parkinson's disease?

• Published in: Quality of life research 2015-01, Vol.24 (1), p.245-249
• Main Authors: Morrow, Chelsea D., Smentkowski, Katherine, Schwartz, Stacy, Armstrong, Melissa J., Gruber-Baldini, Ann L., Anderson, Karen E., Reich, Stephen G., Weiner, William J., Shulman, Lisa M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Brief Communication; Caregivers; CLINICAL AND POLICY APPLICATIONS; Couples; Female; Health Surveys - methods; Humans; Intimacy; Male; Males; Marriage - psychology; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental health; Middle Aged; Parkinson Disease - psychology; Parkinson's disease; Patients; Polls & surveys; Preventive medicine; Public Health; Quality of life; Quality of Life - psychology; Quality of Life Research; Ratings & rankings; Self Report; Sickness Impact Profile; Sociology; Spouses; Standard deviation
• ISSN: 0962-9343; 1573-2649
• DOI: 10.1007/s11136-014-0744-2

Purpose To investigate whether patient-spouse coreporting (patient reporting with assistance from their spouse) results in the same ratings of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) as patient ratings without co-reporting, and to assess whether mutuality of the marital relationship is a determinant of co-reported ratings. Patients are the best source of HRQoL; however, co-reporting is common in clinical settings, but has not been compared to independent patient reporting of HRQoL. Methods Fifty-nine Parkinson's disease (PD) patient-spouse pairs completed the Short Form Health Status Survey (SF-12), measuring mental and physical HRQoL. Initially, the patient and spouse completed the SF-12 independently (about the patient). Then, patient-spouse pairs completed the SF-12 together assessing the patient's HRQoL. Patients and spouses independently completed the Mutuality Scale rating the intimacy of their relationship. Results Patients rated physical HRQoL higher (M = 46.6) than spouses alone (M = 43.4, p < 0.01) and co-reporting (M = 44.8, p < 0.05). Co-reporting rated physical HRQoL in between that of patients and spouses, (p < 0.05). Spouses who reported greater mutuality showed greater concordance with the patient regarding the patient's mental HRQoL (B = -0.43, p < 0.05). Conclusion Consistency of the mode of completion of HRQoL instruments is important since co-reporting may alter HRQoL ratings in PD and lead to inaccurate conclusions. Mutuality is a mediator of mental HRQoL.