Objective: To evaluate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), namely their risk for development of chronic stress syndromes.

Background: It is hypothesized that PTSD may be presently the most adequate conceptualization of such long-term stress affecting both COVID-19 positive and negative subjects. Numerous factors can contribute to its development, such as social isolation, the fear of being hospitalized or the testimony of family members or friends having had the infection.

Method: We included 148 PD patients from the Luxembourg Parkinson’s Study having had their programmed annual follow-up visit between September 2020 and March 2021. In addition to the routine follow-up program, they filled out the Impact of Event Scale – revised (IES-r); the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS); a self-developed questionnaire specifically designed to assess PD patient’s experienced emotional stress during the lockdown. Any score ≥ 33 on the IES-r was considered as indicative of high risk for PTSD.

Results: At this time point, 52 patients (male: 71,2%) are available for analysis. Mean age is 69,2 years (SD: 8,6), disease duration 6,9 years (SD: 4,8). Patients scored 38,2 points in UPDRS-III in average (SD : 13,9). Only 4 patients had been infected (7,7%); 6 patients had personal contact with a positive person (11,5%); 36 patients reported no contact at all (69,2%). Out of 48 seronegative patients, 11 scored ≥ 33 on the IES-r. The risk for PTSD was associated with the fear of being hospitalized due to COVID-19 or of losing a close person due to COVID-19 (p=0,003 and p=0,001 respectively) as well as taking vitamin D supplements (p=0,02). Remarkably, we could identify the presence of pets as well as higher scores on the BRS as protective factors (p=0,04 ; p=0,005 respectively).

Conclusion: These preliminary results show that the pandemic is leading to an increased risk for developing PTSD in both COVID-19 positive AND negative PD patients. However, the long-term clinical expression of PTSD as well as the underlying neuro-inflammatory mechanisms remain unknown. By summer 2021, we will have completed the analyses and will have had a closer look at potential risk factors such as cognitive impairment, comorbidities and household composition, as well as on long-term clinical repercussions.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/impact-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-development-of-chronic-stress-syndromes-in-patients-with-parkinsons-disease-preliminary-results/