ABSTRACT
Introduction Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic degenerative neurological disease with a prevalence of just over 1 per 1000 and increasing incidence at older ages. Clinical assessment has conventionally emphasized the distinguishing functional problems such as tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia and postural instability. However, the disease has a wider potential impact on individuals so that evaluation of outcomes of interventions has increasingly gone beyond clinical assessments to take account of the broader impact of PD on healthrelated quality of life. Wherever possible this broader approach relies on patients’ own assessments through self-completed questionnaires and related methods.
