PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING IN ITALIAN ELDERS WITH AND WITHOUT PARKINSON’S DISEASE: A PRELIMINARY STUDY

Chronic degenerative conditions characterized by motor dysfunction such as Parkinson’s disease may impact the determinants of quality of life in late adulthood, such as psychological well-being (PWB) and affective status. Nonetheless, this issue has not been substantially investigated in the Italian population. Here in a preliminary study we explored relationships between several mental health and motor functions in a group of 30 cognitively healthy community-dwelling Italian elderly with and without Parkinson’s disease (mean age = 74.3 years, SD = 7.1). Each participant was individually presented with a battery of psychological and motor tests assessing cognitive efficiency, PWB, affective status, lifestyle, handgrip strength, three-dimensional gait analysis, and static balance (through postural sway analysis). In particular, kinematics of gait was characterized by means of Gait Profile Score (GPS), a synthetic measure of the deviation of the gait from physiologic conditions. Statistically significant Pearson’s product-moment correlations were found between maximal handgrip strength and several PWB indexes. Moreover, patients with Parkinson’s disease reported lower perceived physical health and personal satisfaction, as well as increased values of GPS than controls, however greater depressive signs were not found in the former group. Finally, a linear regression analysis revealed that the occurrence of Parkinson’s disease explains 26% of the variance relative to a self-reported personal satisfaction index. These preliminary outcomes highlight a general link between motor and psychological outcomes and the impact of Parkinson’s disease on both.