Relevance of sleep quality on caregiver burden in Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder which affects the quality of life of patient and their family. Sleep disorders appear in 80–90% of PD patients and have a great impact on the PD well-being. We examined the relationship of patients’ sleep quality and depression on burden, mood, quality of life, and quality of sleep of their caregivers. A multicenter, regional (Veneto), observational, cross-sectional study that included 55 patient-caregiver pairs was conducted. Patients were assessed using Parkinson’s Disease Sleep Scale (PDSS) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) for sleep disorders, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) as a measure of depression, and Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39) as a measure of quality of life. Caregivers were evaluated by the Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI) a measure of burden, BDI, SF-36 Health Survey as measures of HRQoL, and Medical Outcomes Study-Sleep Scale (MOS-SS) for quality of sleep. CBI, HRQoL, MOS-SS, and BDI scores displayed no association with patients’ age, cognition (Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB)), disease duration, and Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y), and UPDRS III scales whereas were significantly correlated with patients’ quality of sleep, depression, and quality life. CBI and HRQoL were also associated respectively with patients’ ESS and l-dopa daily dose. This study underscores the presence of a significant relationship between patient and caregiver quality of life. Interestingly, sleep quality and depression rather than motor disability best predicted caregivers’ well-being.