Result: Illness perceptions in pre-operative Parkinson’s disease patients

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease, that combines motor and non-motor disorders, and alters patients' autonomy. Even if subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) induces undisputable motor improvement, a postoperative social maladjustment was described by some patients. Our aim was to describe pre-operative illness perceptions in parkinsonian patients, and to determine the possible impact of cognitive restructuration over them. We analyzed 27 parkinsonian patient's candidates to DBS. The mean age was 59 ± 5.94 years, and mean disease duration was 9.89 ± 4.15 years. The patients had two pre-operative psychological interviews (DBS-45 days, DBS-25 days) and completed the Illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised (IPQ-R) before the first interview and at DBS-1 day. The CRTG group (n = 13) had cognitive restructuration during second interview, on dysfunctional cognitions about their perception of post-DBS life which emerged from the first interview. The PIG group (n = 14) benefited of two non-structured interviews. No significant differences were found between the visits (DBS-45 days, DBS-1 day) for IPQ-R dimensions, except for the perception of "personal control" over PD which appears significantly higher for CRTG than PIG group (p = .039) at DBS-1 day, whereas the scores were quite similar at DBS-45 days. Illness perceptions seem to be stable over time and mostly influenced by disease experience of PD. However, the perception of personal control over PD seemed to be modulated through cognitive restructuration, giving patients' control back over disease. Before DBS, illness perceptions investigation and restructuration constitute an interesting point to work on, to enhance perceived benefits of neurosurgery.