Changes in quality of life following unilateral pallidal stimulation in Parkinson's disease

Twenty patients with Parkinson's disease (age range 38-70 years) completed the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP) 2 months before and 3 months after long-t erm high-frequency electrostimulation of the globus pallidus internus to im prove clinical symptoms. The SIP provides an estimate of perceived quality of life on 12 health-status categories. Neurological assessment with the Ho ehn and Yahr scale and the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale reveale d a significant postoperative reduction in clinical symptomatology (p<0.001 ). The patients experienced a general improvement in self-reported quality of life that exceeded the purely motor and physical aspects of quality of l ife. The significant postoperative drop in perceived impairment of communic ation skills can be considered the most important subjective improvement. L ongitudinal research on a larger sample of patients is necessary to evaluat e the durability of the subjective improvement in quality of life after uni lateral pallidal stimulation. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc.