Predictive Factors and Impact of Significant Weight Loss on Quality of Life in Parkinson's Disease: A 5‐Year Follow‐Up Study

BACKGROUND: Significant weight loss (SWL) is considered a common complication of Parkinson's disease (PD). OBJECTIVE: Our aim was (1) to compare the frequency of SWL in people with PD (PwP) vs. healthy controls (HC), (2) to identify predictors of SWL in PwP, and (3) to analyze the relationship between SWL and quality of life (QoL) and autonomy for activities of daily-living (ADL). METHODS: In this prospective 5-year follow-up population-based observational study, PwP and HC from the COPPADIS cohort with repetitive weight examinations over 5 years were included. A decrease >10% in weight at 5 years (V5) compared to baseline (V0) was defined as SWL. Regression models were applied to identify predictors of SWL. RESULTS: Mean weight decreased in PwP (N = 407; 61.9 ± 8.9 years old, 57% males) from 75.5 ± 13.2 at V0 to 73.8 ± 13.5 at V5 (P < 0.0001) but not in HC (N = 110; 61.9 ± 7.4 years old, 52.7% males; from 75.9 ± 13.8 at V0 to 76.3 ± 15.1 at V5 [P = 0.878]). The frequency of SWL was twice as high in PwP than in HC (18.2% [74/407] vs 9.1% [10/110]; P = 0.013). SWL at V5 was associated with a worse QoL and autonomy for ADL (P < 0.0001). To be older (P = 0.014) and an impairment from V0 to V5 in motor complications (UPDRS-IV) (P = 0.001) and mood (BDI-II) (P = 0.009) were associated with SWL in PwP. CONCLUSION: SWL is frequent in PwP and is associated to a worse QoL and decreased autonomy for ADL.