Quality of life is a subjective perception of an individual’s well-being and an individual’s experience of life in a certain life period. Therefore the quality of life is not something constant but it’s changing all the time due to various factors. When we are feeling good we say that our quality of life is good. However, when a disease occurs, for example, we need to adapt our lives to new circumstances. It may happen that we can no longer enjoy the activities that give us joy, we become less independent, we experience difficulties completing everyday activities, we feel lonely and our quality of life deteriorates. People over 45 years of age are more likely to be affected by Parkinson's disease. This is a neurodegenerative disease that attacks nerve cells, especially those responsible for movement. It is a progressive disease that makes a person more and more dependent on the help and support of his or her spouse, family members, friends, and others. The disease impedes individuals in everyday activities. Besides the regular use of prescribed medicine, physical activity also plays an important role in slowing down the progression of the disease and also maintaining movement and cognitive functions. That is why individuals participate in various forms of sports (pilates, yoga, dance, etc.) that are adapted to the capabilities of people with Parkinson's disease. Table tennis is also one of the sports that are suitable for people with Parkinson's disease.
In this master's thesis, we wanted to find out what is the quality of life of people with Parkinson’s disease. We have done this with quantitative research. We were interested in whether there is a statistically significant difference in the quality of life in the experimental group after exercising table tennis for the period of five months, if exercise participants will better assess their quality of life after the five months program of exercising table tennis and whether there are statistically significant differences in the quality of life in the control group after the period of five months. We assessed this with the use of a questionnaire for the quality of life of people with Parkinson’s disease (PDQ-39). Based on this questionnaire we found out that in the experimental group all areas of quality of life have improved and a statistically significant difference has been shown in the arithmetic mean in the area of everyday life activities and emotional well-being. The improvement in the mentioned areas has proven to be statistically significant. While in the control group the quality of life has deteriorated in all areas. A statistically significant difference in the arithmetic mean has shown only in the physical discomfort, therefore the deterioration in the physical discomfort in the control group is statistically significant. The results of our research are in favor of exercising table tennis as a way to improve the quality of life of people with Parkinson’s disease. On the other hand, by not including exercising table tennis the quality of life of people with Parkinson's disease has deteriorated in all areas.
|
