Background: Loneliness and isolation impact health detrimentally but are understudied in Parkinson's disease (PD). Outcome measurement properties for social connection remain unexplored in PD.
Objective: To evaluate the measurement properties of six social connection outcomes in PD.
Methods: We evaluated internal consistency, structural validity, and construct validity for measures of loneliness (brief UCLA Loneliness Scale [ULS3], short and long de Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale [dJGLS], social isolation [Cohen Social Network Index-SNI total people, SNI high contact networks], and social support brief Perceived Social Support Scale [PSS]).
Results: We administered measures to 178 PD participants (Mage = 67.9; 81.5% at Hoehn & Yahr stage 2). There was strong internal consistency, content validity across outcomes, and a 1-factor structure (PSS, ULS3) and a 2-factor structure (dJGLS) for two measures each.
Conclusions: We provide a toolbox for clinicians and researchers studying social connection in PD.
Keywords: Parkinson's disease; loneliness; psychometrics; reliability; social isolation; social networks; social support; validity.
© 2024 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.