Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

The Care Needs of Patients With Cognitive Impairment in Late-Stage Parkinson’s Disease

Pigott, Jennifer S. ; Bloem, Bastiaan R. ; Lorenzl, Stefan ; Meissner, Wassilios G. ; Odin, Per LU orcid ; Ferreira, Joaquim J. ; Dodel, Richard and Schrag, Anette (2024) In Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology
Abstract

Background: Cognitive impairment is common in Parkinson’s disease (PD), but care needs and resource use for those with significant cognitive impairment are not well established. Methods: 675 participants with PD from the international Care of Late-Stage Parkinsonism (CLaSP) study were grouped into those without (n = 333, 49%) and with cognitive impairment (MMSE < 24/30 or diagnosis of dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment; n = 342, 51%) and their clinical features, care needs and healthcare utilisation compared. The relationship between cognition and healthcare consultations was investigated through logistic regression. Results: Cognitive impairment was associated with more motor and non-motor symptoms, less antiparkinsonian but... (More)

Background: Cognitive impairment is common in Parkinson’s disease (PD), but care needs and resource use for those with significant cognitive impairment are not well established. Methods: 675 participants with PD from the international Care of Late-Stage Parkinsonism (CLaSP) study were grouped into those without (n = 333, 49%) and with cognitive impairment (MMSE < 24/30 or diagnosis of dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment; n = 342, 51%) and their clinical features, care needs and healthcare utilisation compared. The relationship between cognition and healthcare consultations was investigated through logistic regression. Results: Cognitive impairment was associated with more motor and non-motor symptoms, less antiparkinsonian but higher rates of dementia and antipsychotic medication, worse subjective health status and greater caregiver burden. A considerable proportion did not have a pre-established cognitive diagnosis. Care needs were high across the whole sample but higher in the cognitive impairment group. Home care and care home use was higher in the cognitive impairment group. However, use of healthcare consultations was similar between the groups and significantly fewer participants with cognitive impairment had had recent PD Nurse consultations. Worse cognitive impairment was associated with lower frequency of recent PD nurse and multidisciplinary therapy consultation (physiotherapy, massage, occupational therapy, speech training and general nursing). Conclusions: Those with cognitive impairment have more severe PD, higher care needs and greater social care utilisation than those with normal cognition, yet use of health care services is similar or less. Cognitive impairment appears to be a barrier to PD nurse and multidisciplinary therapy consultations. This challenges current models of care: alternative models of care may be required to serve this population. Plain Language Summary: Parkinson’s disease is a long-term progressive health condition. Over time, many people with Parkinson’s develop problems with thinking and memory, called cognitive impairment. This can negatively impact the daily lives of the person with Parkinson’s and their caregiver. It is also thought to be a barrier to accessing healthcare. How people with Parkinson’s who have cognitive impairment use healthcare and detail of their care needs is not well known. We analysed data from a large sample of people with advanced Parkinson’s from six European countries to investigate their symptoms, care needs and healthcare use. We compared those with cognitive impairment to (342 people) to those without cognitive impairment (333 people). We found that those with cognitive impairment had more severe Parkinson’s across a range of symptoms compared to those without cognitive impairment. They also had more care needs, reported their health status to be worse, and their caregivers experienced greater strain from caring. Whilst use of other healthcare services was similar between the two groups, those with cognitive impairment were less likely to have recently seen a Parkinson’s nurse than those without cognitive impairment. Further analysis showed an association between cognitive impairment and not having seen a Parkinson’s nurse or therapist recently, taking psychiatric symptoms, functional disability and care home residence into account. Therapists included were physiotherapy, massage, occupational therapy, speech training and general nursing. These findings highlight unmet need. We suggest that healthcare should be more targeted to help this group of people, given their higher care needs.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
keywords
care needs, cognitive impairment, dementia, healthcare, Parkinson’s disease
in
Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • pmid:38230692
  • scopus:85191255015
ISSN
0891-9887
DOI
10.1177/08919887231225484
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
1add9afe-94d3-4fd6-b116-47ebad64ef34
date added to LUP
2024-05-07 16:07:11
date last changed
2024-05-08 02:20:03
@article{1add9afe-94d3-4fd6-b116-47ebad64ef34,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background: Cognitive impairment is common in Parkinson’s disease (PD), but care needs and resource use for those with significant cognitive impairment are not well established. Methods: 675 participants with PD from the international Care of Late-Stage Parkinsonism (CLaSP) study were grouped into those without (n = 333, 49%) and with cognitive impairment (MMSE &lt; 24/30 or diagnosis of dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment; n = 342, 51%) and their clinical features, care needs and healthcare utilisation compared. The relationship between cognition and healthcare consultations was investigated through logistic regression. Results: Cognitive impairment was associated with more motor and non-motor symptoms, less antiparkinsonian but higher rates of dementia and antipsychotic medication, worse subjective health status and greater caregiver burden. A considerable proportion did not have a pre-established cognitive diagnosis. Care needs were high across the whole sample but higher in the cognitive impairment group. Home care and care home use was higher in the cognitive impairment group. However, use of healthcare consultations was similar between the groups and significantly fewer participants with cognitive impairment had had recent PD Nurse consultations. Worse cognitive impairment was associated with lower frequency of recent PD nurse and multidisciplinary therapy consultation (physiotherapy, massage, occupational therapy, speech training and general nursing). Conclusions: Those with cognitive impairment have more severe PD, higher care needs and greater social care utilisation than those with normal cognition, yet use of health care services is similar or less. Cognitive impairment appears to be a barrier to PD nurse and multidisciplinary therapy consultations. This challenges current models of care: alternative models of care may be required to serve this population. Plain Language Summary: Parkinson’s disease is a long-term progressive health condition. Over time, many people with Parkinson’s develop problems with thinking and memory, called cognitive impairment. This can negatively impact the daily lives of the person with Parkinson’s and their caregiver. It is also thought to be a barrier to accessing healthcare. How people with Parkinson’s who have cognitive impairment use healthcare and detail of their care needs is not well known. We analysed data from a large sample of people with advanced Parkinson’s from six European countries to investigate their symptoms, care needs and healthcare use. We compared those with cognitive impairment to (342 people) to those without cognitive impairment (333 people). We found that those with cognitive impairment had more severe Parkinson’s across a range of symptoms compared to those without cognitive impairment. They also had more care needs, reported their health status to be worse, and their caregivers experienced greater strain from caring. Whilst use of other healthcare services was similar between the two groups, those with cognitive impairment were less likely to have recently seen a Parkinson’s nurse than those without cognitive impairment. Further analysis showed an association between cognitive impairment and not having seen a Parkinson’s nurse or therapist recently, taking psychiatric symptoms, functional disability and care home residence into account. Therapists included were physiotherapy, massage, occupational therapy, speech training and general nursing. These findings highlight unmet need. We suggest that healthcare should be more targeted to help this group of people, given their higher care needs.</p>}},
  author       = {{Pigott, Jennifer S. and Bloem, Bastiaan R. and Lorenzl, Stefan and Meissner, Wassilios G. and Odin, Per and Ferreira, Joaquim J. and Dodel, Richard and Schrag, Anette}},
  issn         = {{0891-9887}},
  keywords     = {{care needs; cognitive impairment; dementia; healthcare; Parkinson’s disease}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology}},
  title        = {{The Care Needs of Patients With Cognitive Impairment in Late-Stage Parkinson’s Disease}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/08919887231225484}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/08919887231225484}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}