Self-Management Education for Persons with Parkinson’s Disease and Their Care Partners: A Quasi-Experimental Case-Control Study in Clinical Practice

Table 1

Background characteristics.

	Persons with Parkinson’s disease			Care partners
	Intervention group (n = 59)	Control group (n = 48)	-value	Intervention group (n = 35)	Control group (n = 29)	-value
Age	71 (65–75)	68 (64–75)		72 (68–77)	69 (67–74)	0.112
Male gender, n (%)	24 (41)	32 (67)	0.007	22 (63)	7 (24)	0.002
Education, n (%)
Primary school (9 years)	15 (25)	8 (17)	0.540	12 (34)	5 (17)	0.328
High school (11–13 years)	19 (32)	18 (38)		8 (23)	7 (24)
University	25 (42)	22 (46)		15 (43)	16 (55)
Living with someone	52 (88)	41 (85)	0.678	34 (97)	28 (97)	0.892
Relation to person with PD, n (%)
Spouse	—	—	—	34 (97)	28 (97)	1.000
Son/daughter	—	—		1 (3)	1 (3)
Housing, n (%)
Own house	33 (56)	32 (67)	0.162	—	—	—
Own apartment	15 (25)	13 (27)		—	—
Rental apartment	11 (19)	3 (6)		—	—
Comorbidity, n (%)	31 (53)	27 (60)	0.506	19 (54)	17 (59)	0.728
Perceived general health	1 (1–2)	2 (1–2)	0.242	2 (2–3)	2 (2–3)	0.915
PADLS	2 (1–2)	2 (2–2)	0.918	—	—	—
Hoehn and Yahr stage of PD	3 (2–3)	—	—	—	—	—
Time since diagnosis (years)	5 (2–7)	7 (3–8)	0.147	—	—	—
Perceived PD burden	2 (2–3)	2 (2–3)	0.829	—	—	—
Memory problems in last 30 days	2 (1–2)	2 (1–2)	0.450	—	—	—
Number of medication times/day	4 (3–5)	4 (3–6)	0.984	—	—	—
Motor fluctuations, n (%)	30 (51)	33 (69)	0.061	—	—	—
Dyskinesias, n (%)	17 (29)	21 (45)	0.091	—	—	—
PD medications, n (%)
Levodopa	54 (95)	45 (94)	1.000	—	—	—
Dopamine agonists	31 (54)	34 (71)	0.084	—	—	—
COMT inhibitors	11 (19)	8 (17)	0.727	—	—	—
MAO-B inhibitors	23 (39)	22 (46)	0.572	—	—	—
Other	2 (4)	2 (4)	1.000	—	—	—
Advanced treatment, n (%)
Deep brain stimulation	1 (2)	2 (4)	0.586	—	—	—
S.c. apomorphine infusion	1 (2)	1 (2)	1.000	—	—	—
Levodopa/carbidopa intestinal gel	4 (7)	1 (2)	0.372	—	—	—

Data are median (q1-q3) unless otherwise noted. Mann–Whitney U test. Chi-Square test or Fisher’s exact test, as appropriate. Possible scores, 0–4 (0 = Poor, 4 = Excellent). Possible scores, 1–5 (1 = No difficulties, 5 = Extreme difficulties). Possible stages, I–V (I = Mild unilateral disease, V = Confined to bed or wheelchair unless aided). Possible scores, 0–4 (0 = None at all, 4 = Extreme). Possible scores, 0–4 (0 = Never, 4 = Always). Other medications included amantadine (n = 2), anticholinergics (n = 1), clozapine (n = 1). PADLS: Parkinson’s disease Activities of Daily Living Scale; PD: Parkinson’s disease; COMT: Cathechol-O-Methyl Transferase; MAO-B: Mono Amine Oxidase type B; s.c.: subcutaneous.