Disclosing a PD diagnosis to family, friends, and colleagues

A survey of patients with Parkinson disease has found that while around 90% of patients disclose their diagnosis early to their family, around one in four patients wait at least a year before disclosing it at work.The survey involved 101 patients from the University of Maryland PD clinic, who were asked when they disclosed the diagnosis of PD to their spouse, immediate family, friends, and work colleagues. Patients were also asked to rate the reaction they received upon disclosing the diagnosis as very positive, positive, neutral, or negative. The group was predominantly white and college graduates, and two-thirds were employed at diagnosis.All but two patients disclosed their diagnosis to their spouse or significant other within a month of receiving it. However, other family members, friends and work colleagues were sometimes told much later: 4% of patients waited at least a year before telling their family, and 13% waited this long before telling friends. In the workplace, the majority told colleagues shortly after being diagnosed, but a quarter of the surveyed population had not disclosed the diagnosis one year after receiving it. Within the population of employed patients, it was found that men were more likely to wait over a year to disclose their diagnosis in the workplace....