Measuring Quality of Life in Parkinson’s Disease—A Call to Rethink Conceptualizations and Assessments

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic condition that considerably impacts the perception of quality of life (QoL) in both patients and their caregivers. Modern therapeutic approaches and social efforts strive at maintaining and promoting QoL. It has emerged as a fundamental parameter for clinical follow-up and poses one of the most important endpoints in scientific and economic evaluations of new care models. It is therefore of utmost importance to grasp concepts of QoL in a meaningful way. However, when taking a look at the origin of our modern understanding of QoL and existing methods for its measurement in PD patients, some aspects seem to lack sufficient appreciation. This article elaborates on how the perception of health and QoL have changed over time and discuss whether current understandings of both are reflected in the most commonly applied assessment methods for people with PD.