Individuals with Parkinson's Disease (PD) commonly have disabilities that impact their health and quality of life. These individuals may have difficulties to access face-to-face health services. In addition, telerehabilitation has been an important strategy for healthcare. The 39-item Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39) is a valid and recommended tool to assess the health-related quality of life of these individuals. However, studies investigating the concurrent validity of the telephone-based application of the PDQ-39 were not found.

To investigate the concurrent validity of the telephone-based application of the PDQ-39 to assess the quality of life in individuals with PD.

This is a measurement proprieties study. Individuals were included according to the following criteria: idiopathic PD diagnosed by a neurologist, age 50 years or older, using an anti-parkinsonian medication, clinically stable for at least 6 months, and classified between stages 1-3 of the modified Hoehn and Yahr scale. The Portuguese version of the PDQ-39 was applied by interview in a face-to-face assessment, and after seven to 10 days, it was applied by telephone, by the same examiner. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the sample. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to assess the agreement between the scores, considering the total score and domains’ scores. When the ICC values were statistically significant, the magnitude was classified as: very low≤ 0.25; low=0.26 to 0.49; moderate= 0.50 to 0.69; high = 0.70 to 0.89; and very high = 0.90 to 1.00. The established significance level was α=5%.

A total of 49 individuals, 34 men (69.4%), with a mean age of 66.51±8.08 years and mean disease duration of 9.06±6.89 years, were included. Most were classified at stages 2 (46.9%) and 3 (20.4%) of the modified Hoehn and Yahr scale. Significant correlations, classified as very high magnitude for the total score (ICC= 0.95; p<0.001) and for the stigma and mobility domains (0.92 p<0.001), and classified as high for the domains social support, activities of daily living, cognitive impairment, communication, bodily discomfort, and emotional well-being (0.77 p<0.001) were found.

Preliminary results indicate that the telephone-based application of the Portuguese version of the PDQ-39 has adequate concurrent validity to assess the quality of life in individuals with PD. However, the study must be finalized to ensure these results.

These results indicate the potential of assessing the quality of life of individuals with PD using the PDQ-39 over the telephone, which can increase the feasibility of administration, reduce problems with transportation and costs.