Objective: Describe the comorbidity burden for patients (pt) and care partners (cp) of Huntington’s Disease (HD), Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and the general population (GP)

Background: HD is a rare genetic neurodegenerative disease with cognitive, behavioral and motor symptoms leading to increasing disability and loss of independence, impacting pt and cp. PD is also a neurodegenerative disease and, while HD is less prevalent with symptoms developing age 30-50, PD affects 1% of adults over age 60. Age of onset and disease progression may be impacted by differential comorbidities.

Method: A cross-sectional online survey was administered in the US, June-August 2019, to HD-pt/cp recruited through Rare Patient Voice. Recruitment was designed to be representative across HD stages. Self-reported physician diagnosis of Anxiety (AX), Bipolar Disorder (BP), Depression (DP), Cancer (CA), Diabetes (DB) and Heart Disease (CV) were compared to PD-pt (n=118) and cp (n=385) and GP (n=123) and cp (n=240) matched on age and gender from the 2018 US National Health and Wellness Survey. HD-pt/cp physical, mental and emotional health are reported. Bivariate analyses were used for (1) HD-pt and GP and (2) HD-cp and GP-cp. Multivariate analyses were used for (1) HD-pt and PD-pt controlling for age and gender and (2) HD-cp and PD-cp controlling for gender.

Results: 41 HD-pt and 80 HD-cp (not linked) were identified. Comorbidity rates are shown in [table1]. AX was more common in HD-pt than GP (p=0.001) and PD-pt (p=0.009); and in HD-cp than GP-cp and PD-cp (both p<0.001). BP was higher in HD-pt than GP (p=0.045); and higher in HD-cp than GP-cp (p=0.014). DP was higher in HD-pt than GP (p=0.002); and higher in HD-cp than GP-cp and PD-cp (both p<0.001). CA was lower in HD-pt than PD-pt (p=0.019); and lower in HD-cp than GP-cp (p=0.021) and PD-cp (p=0.012). DB was lower in HD-cp than PD-cp (p<0.001). Poor/fair physical health was reported by 46.3% HD-pt and 21.3% HD-cp; 58.5% of HD-pt and 16.3% of HD-cp reported poor/fair mental health; 46.3% of HD-pt and 36.3% of HD-cp reported poor/fair emotional health.

Conclusion: Mental health comorbidities were most common among HD-pt/cp. The majority of HD-pt reported poor/fair mental health, while nearly half reported poor/fair emotional health. There is a need for ensuring provision of adequate mental health and preventive services to HD- and PD-pt/cp.

« Back to MDS Virtual Congress 2020

MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/differential-burden-of-comorbidities-for-huntingtons-disease-parkinsons-disease-and-the-general-population-for-patients-and-care-partners-in-the-us/