Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) adversely affects the quality of life (QoL) of not only patients but also their caregivers.
Objective: To determine the factors that most impact the QoL of family caregivers of patients with PD in a large Japanese population using data from the Japanese Quality-of-Life Survey of Parkinson's Disease (JAQPAD) study.
Methods: Questionnaires, including the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire-Carer (PDQ-Carer), were distributed to patients and their caregivers. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were performed with the PDQ-Carer Summary Index (SI) score as the dependent variable to determine the factors that impact caregiver QoL.
Results: Overall, 1,346 caregivers were included in the analysis. Female sex, unemployment, caring for a patient with a high-level need for nursing care, and a high Nonmotor Symptoms Questionnaire score were factors with a significant negative impact on caregiver QoL.
Conclusion: Results from this study identified several factors that affect caregiver QoL in Japan.
Keywords: Japan; PDQ‐Carer; Parkinson's disease; caregivers; quality of life.
© 2023 The Authors. Movement Disorders Clinical Practice published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.