Validation of Parkinson's Disease-Related Questionnaires in South Africa

Authors

Gill Nelson, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 27 St Andrews Rd, Parktown, 2193, South Africa.
Ntombizodwa Ndlovu, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 27 St Andrews Rd, Parktown, 2193, South Africa.
Nicola Christofides, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 27 St Andrews Rd, Parktown, 2193, South Africa.
Tintswalo M. Hlungwani, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 27 St Andrews Rd, Parktown, 2193, South Africa.
Irene Faust, Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, Campus Box 8111, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA.
Brad A. Racette, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 27 St Andrews Rd, Parktown, 2193, South Africa.

Document Type

Article

Abstract

BACKGROUND: There are very few epidemiological studies investigating Parkinson's disease (PD) in Africa. The hundreds of local languages and dialects make traditional screening and clinical evaluation tools difficult to use. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to validate two commonly used PD questionnaires in an African population. METHODS: The PD Screening Questionnaire (PDSQ) and Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39) were modified and translated into Afrikaans, Setswana, and isiZulu and administered to a sample of healthy local residents. We assessed the internal consistencies and cluster characteristics of the questionnaires, using a Cronbach's alpha test and exploratory factor analysis. The questionnaires were then administered to a population-based sample of 416 research participants. We evaluated the correlations between the questionnaires and both a timed motor task and the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale motor subsection 3 (UPDRS3), using locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (LOWESS) regression analysis and Spearman's rank correlation. RESULTS: Both questionnaires had high overall internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.86 and 0.95, respectively). The modified PDQ-39 had evidence of five subscales, with Factor 1 explaining 57% and Factor 2 explaining 14%, of the variance in responses. The PDSQ and PDQ-39 scores were correlated with the UPDRS3 score ( = 0.35, < 0.001; and  = 0.28, < 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: The translated PDSQ and PDQ-39 questionnaires demonstrated high internal consistency and correlations with clinical severity of parkinsonism and a timed motor task, suggesting that they are valid tools for field-based epidemiological studies.

Publication Date

1-1-2020

Publication Title

Parkinson's disease

ISSN

2090-8083

Volume

2020

First Page

7542138

PubMed ID

32617145

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1155/2020/7542138

Recommended Citation

Nelson, Gill; Ndlovu, Ntombizodwa; Christofides, Nicola; Hlungwani, Tintswalo M.; Faust, Irene; and Racette, Brad A., "Validation of Parkinson's Disease-Related Questionnaires in South Africa" (2020). Neurology. 1194.
https://scholar.barrowneuro.org/neurology/1194