Daily living abilities and work abilities of people with Parkinson's disease

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Emiko Kikuchi,

Affiliations: Department of Occupational Therapy, Tokyo Metropolitan University of Health Science, 7-2-10 Higashiogu, Arakawa-ku, Tokyo , 116-8551 Japan. Tel./Fax: +81 03 3819 7356; E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: A questionaire survey was conducted on 60 items of daily living abilities linked to 13 basic work abilities such as memory, learning, planning, muscular power and concentration etc. covering a total of 133 subjects with Parkinson's disease. Results of the survey were as follows: 1. Daily living abilities and work abilities decreased in accordance with Yahr's stages and the degree of daily living abilities. 2. Daily living abilities provided clues for aging and prognosis of the Parkinson's disease. 3. ``Cope well with heat and coldness'', ``Being confident in the strength of legs and loins'' and ``Keep balance in the train'' were difficult to do from the early stages of the onset. 4. Audio-visual ability, memory and judgement were well maintained despite the severity of the disease. 5. All subjects showed poor endurance, while learning, planning and manual dexterity showed higher performance in those under 59.

Keywords: Parkinson's Disease, daily living abilities, work abilities

Journal: Work, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 239-248, 1999