Disparities in access to treatment in relation to quality of life in people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in the South African healthcare setting
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7196/SAMJ.2025.v115i3.2297Keywords:
Parkinsons disease, quality of life, access to treatment, household income, healthcare disparities, internet accessAbstract
Background. South Africa’s divide between the public and private healthcare sectors has implications for healthcare access and quality of life (QoL) outcomes. This exploratory study aimed to identify the types of treatments used by people with Parkinson’s disease (PWPD) in two different healthcare settings (public and private), and their perception of treatment satisfaction. Additionally, this study compared the QoL experienced between these healthcare settings, and investigated whether the number of treatments, internet access and income level were associated with QoL.
Methods. Cross-sectional questionnaires assessing demographic variables and QoL were administered to PWPD across two different healthcare settings in the city of Johannesburg (public n=42, private n=38).
Results. PWPD in the private healthcare setting had greater access to treatment options and better QoL outcomes than PWPD in the public healthcare group (p≤0.05), who relied almost exclusively on medication to treat PD symptoms. The QoL psychological domain was the lowest across both healthcare settings. No significant differences were observed in treatment satisfaction.
Conclusion. PWPD using the public healthcare setting had reduced access to PD treatments and poorer QoL than PWPD using private healthcare. The number of treatments, household income and internet access were strongly correlated with QoL outcomes.
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