Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease Patients Are Associated with Reduced Health-Related Quality of Life and Increased Caregiver Burden

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder resulting in reduced health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) of people with PD (PwP) and their caregivers. Furthermore, there is an accumulating burden on caregivers of patients in advanced stages of the disease. In previous studies, motor- and non-motor-symptoms of PwP have been identified to contribute to reduced HR-QoL and an increased caregiver burden. This cross-sectional observational study aimed to study the influence of neuropsychiatric symptoms measured with the Scale for Evaluation of Neuropsychiatric Disorders in Parkinson’s Disease (SEND-PD) questionnaire on the HR-QoL of PwP, as well as the caregiver burden. Analyses revealed a significant association between SEND-PD subscale mood/apathy and reduced HR-QoL in PwP, measured by the Parkinson’s disease quality of life questionnaire (PDQ-8) (p < 0.001). Furthermore, mood/apathy was significantly correlated with caregiver burden (p = 0.001) in the multiple linear regression analysis. Hence, neuropsychiatric symptoms were found to have a profound impact on the HR-QoL of PwP, as well as on caregiver burden. Since neuropsychiatric symptoms were one of the main predictors for caregiver burden, physicians of PwP should treat these symptoms to stabilize caregiver burden, as well as HR-QoL in PwP and their caregivers.