Table 1.
Background characteristicsa.
| Persons with Parkinson's disease | Care partners | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intervention group (n = 59) | Control group (n = 48) | P-value | Intervention group (n = 35) | Control group (n = 29) | P-value | |
| Age | 71 (65–75) | 68 (64–75) | 0.506b | 72 (68–77) | 69 (67–74) | 0.112b |
| Male gender, n (%) | 24 (41) | 32 (67) | 0.007c | 22 (63) | 7 (24) | 0.002c |
|
| ||||||
| Education, n (%) | ||||||
| Primary school (9 years) | 15 (25) | 8 (17) | 0.540c | 12 (34) | 5 (17) | 0.328c |
| High school (11–13 years) | 19 (32) | 18 (38) | 8 (23) | 7 (24) | ||
| University | 25 (42) | 22 (46) | 15 (43) | 16 (55) | ||
|
| ||||||
| Living with someone | 52 (88) | 41 (85) | 0.678c | 34 (97) | 28 (97) | 0.892c |
| Relation to person with PD, n (%) | ||||||
| Spouse | — | — | — | 34 (97) | 28 (97) | 1.000c |
| Son/daughter | — | — | 1 (3) | 1 (3) | ||
|
| ||||||
| Housing, n (%) | ||||||
| Own house | 33 (56) | 32 (67) | 0.162c | — | — | — |
| Own apartment | 15 (25) | 13 (27) | — | — | ||
| Rental apartment | 11 (19) | 3 (6) | — | — | ||
|
| ||||||
| Comorbidity, n (%) | 31 (53) | 27 (60) | 0.506c | 19 (54) | 17 (59) | 0.728c |
| Perceived general healthd | 1 (1–2) | 2 (1–2) | 0.242b | 2 (2–3) | 2 (2–3) | 0.915b |
| PADLSe | 2 (1–2) | 2 (2–2) | 0.918b | — | — | — |
| Hoehn and Yahr stage of PDf | 3 (2–3) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Time since diagnosis (years) | 5 (2–7) | 7 (3–8) | 0.147b | — | — | — |
| Perceived PD burdeng | 2 (2–3) | 2 (2–3) | 0.829b | — | — | — |
| Memory problems in last 30 daysh | 2 (1–2) | 2 (1–2) | 0.450b | — | — | — |
| Number of medication times/day | 4 (3–5) | 4 (3–6) | 0.984b | — | — | — |
| Motor fluctuations, n (%) | 30 (51) | 33 (69) | 0.061c | — | — | — |
| Dyskinesias, n (%) | 17 (29) | 21 (45) | 0.091c | — | — | — |
|
| ||||||
| PD medications, n (%) | ||||||
| Levodopa | 54 (95) | 45 (94) | 1.000c | — | — | — |
| Dopamine agonists | 31 (54) | 34 (71) | 0.084c | — | — | — |
| COMT inhibitors | 11 (19) | 8 (17) | 0.727c | — | — | — |
| MAO-B inhibitors | 23 (39) | 22 (46) | 0.572c | — | — | — |
| Otheri | 2 (4) | 2 (4) | 1.000c | — | — | — |
|
| ||||||
| Advanced treatment, n (%) | ||||||
| Deep brain stimulation | 1 (2) | 2 (4) | 0.586c | — | — | — |
| S.c. apomorphine infusion | 1 (2) | 1 (2) | 1.000c | — | — | — |
| Levodopa/carbidopa intestinal gel | 4 (7) | 1 (2) | 0.372c | — | — | — |
aData are median (q1-q3) unless otherwise noted. bMann–Whitney U test. cChi-Square test or Fisher's exact test, as appropriate. dPossible scores, 0–4 (0 = Poor, 4 = Excellent). ePossible scores, 1–5 (1 = No difficulties, 5 = Extreme difficulties). fPossible stages, I–V (I = Mild unilateral disease, V = Confined to bed or wheelchair unless aided). gPossible scores, 0–4 (0 = None at all, 4 = Extreme). hPossible scores, 0–4 (0 = Never, 4 = Always). iOther medications included amantadine (n = 2), anticholinergics (n = 1), clozapine (n = 1). PADLS: Parkinson's disease Activities of Daily Living Scale; PD: Parkinson's disease; COMT: Cathechol-O-Methyl Transferase; MAO-B: Mono Amine Oxidase type B; s.c.: subcutaneous.