Parkinson's Disease and Subjective Prospects for the Future in Different Life Domains. Findings of a Nationally Representative Sample

PURPOSE: To analyze the link between Parkinson's disease and perceived prospects for the future.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data were taken from the German Ageing Survey (year 2021; n=4296 individuals, thereof 33 individuals with Parkinson's disease) were used. This is a nationally representative sample of community-dwelling individuals ≥ 40 years in Germany. Perceived prospects for the future in different life domains (ie, living standard, health and general optimism) were used as outcomes. Physician-diagnosed Parkinson's disease served as key independent variable . It was adjusted for several covariates.

RESULTS: Individuals with Parkinson's disease had a markedly worse (Cohen's d=0.65) general optimism compared to individuals without Parkinson's disease. After adjusting for various factors, these differences disappeared in multiple linear regressions (β=-0.04, p=0.72). Moreover, multiple ordered logistic regressions showed that individuals with Parkinson's disease had a worse future self-rated health (OR: 4.10, 95% CI: 1.99-8.47, p<0.001) compared to individuals without Parkinson's disease.

CONCLUSION: Our study first showed that general optimism may be lower among individuals with Parkinson's disease (bivariate analysis). However, this association disappeared when it was adjusted for health-related factors in regression analysis. In sum, our findings indicate that more general future-related factors did not significantly differ between individuals with and without Parkinson's disease. However, there were significant differences in future self-rated health.