[Quality of life for patients with intractable diseases. Subjective satisfaction of patients with Parkinson's disease].

Abstract

More than 20 years have passed since policies for dealing with intractable diseases have been instituted in Japan. This study was carried out to clarify which factors tend to promote a patient's subjective satisfaction with his or her quality of life. The subjects were 62 male and 51 female patients with Parkinson's disease. Their average age was 68.8 years. The results were as follows: 1. Patients placed more importance on trying to understand the pathophysiology of the disease than trying to improve their better-life with the disease. 2. Most male patients received care from a family member, whereas most female patients received care from a non-family member. 3. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that a) patients who understand how to improve their better-life with Parkinson's Disease are four times more satisfied(on-a subjective basis)than patients who do not understand how to improve their better-life, and b) patients who have a supportive caregiver are twice as satisfied as those who do not. These findings suggest that, in order to increase the subjective satisfaction of Parkinson's disease patients, it is important for them to have a supportive caregiver and to help them understand how to improve their better-life.