| Research Abstract |
For these twenty years, the relationships among impairment, disability, and handicap in neurological diseases such as stroke and spinal cord injury have been studied using the framework of international classification of impairment, disability, and handicap, defined by World Health Organization. Those relationships in Parkinson's disease have rarely been studied on statistical basis. To identify the relationships among impairment, disability, handicap, burden of care on a principal caregiver, economic expenses, event-related potentials, and cerebral blood flow in patients with Parkinson's disease, we made quantitative evaluations on these parameters in 24 patients and 14 caregivers. Impairment was measured by symptomatic assessment for motor and autonomic impairments and neuropsychological assessment using Hasegawa dementia scale revised, mini mental state examination, and self-rating depression scale. Disability was measured by Hoehn and Yahr scale, Barthel index, and geriatric activity of daily living. Handicap was measured by Craig handicap assessment and reporting technique. Scores for burden of care measured on a principal caregiver had physical and psychosocial aspects. Neurophysiological dysfunction was studied by measuring visual event-related potentials and regional cerebral blood flow. Motor, cognitive, and autonomic impairments, disability, and handicap significantly correlated to each other. Burden of care on a principal caregiver, economic expenses, visual event-related potentials, and regional cerebral blood flow in patients with Parkinson's disease were significantly correlated with impairment, disability, and handicap. Symptomatic, neuropsychological, electrophysiological, and neuroimaging evaluations in Parkinson's disease proved useful to predict their quality of life, burden of care on their families, and economic expenses.
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