The internal consistency and validity of the Self-assessment Parkinson's Disease Disability Scale

Objective: To test the consistency and validity of the Self-assessment Parkinson's Disease Disability Scale in patients with Parkinson's disease living at home. Design: Patients with Parkinson's disease responded to a set of questionnaires. In addition, an observation of the performance of daily activities was carried out on a subgroup. Setting and subjects: Patients with Parkinson's disease living at home (n = 142). Measures: The Self-assessment Parkinson's Disease Disability Scale (SPDDS), the Hoehn & Yahr Rating Scale (H&Y), and the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP68). The observation concerned nine activities that correspond to items of the SPDDS questionnaire. Results: Internal consistency of the SPDDS was very high (Cronbach's alpha = 0.97; reliability rho = 0.97). The items of the SPDDS are hierarchical (Loevinger's H = 0.64): patients had least difficulty with ‘washing’ and ‘brushing teeth’ and most difficulty with ‘turning in bed’, ‘travelling by public transport’ and ‘writing a letter’. Validity of the SPDDS was good: the relationship between the SPDDS questionnaire and the H&Y rating scale, the SIP68 and the results of the observation was strong and significant. Conclusion: The SPDDS is a unidimensional instrument measuring disabilities in Parkinson's disease patients living at home.