Coping processes and health-related quality of life in Parkinson's disease

Objective This study investigated the predictive value of various coping processes for the psychological and disease specific aspects of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Parkinson's disease (PD).

Method Cross-sectional study of 85 participants with PD using the Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ), Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21), quality of life (PDQ-39), and socio-demographic and clinical variables.

Results Greater use of planful problem solving coping was found to be significantly associated with better HRQoL in relation to cognitive impairment, communication and bodily discomfort. In addition to greater disease duration, greater use of escape-avoidance coping processes were identified as significant predictors of poorer HRQoL outcomes in the domains of mood and emotional well-being.

Conclusion Psychological interventions such as mindfulness training, aimed at reducing the use of escape-avoidance copying, may help to improve HRQoL in PD.