Impact of newer pharmacological treatments on quality of life in patients with Parkinson's disease

Quality of life in Parkinson's disease patients following adjunctive tolcapone therapy: results of an open-label, multicenter, community-based trial

OBJECTIVE

To examine changes in quality of life (QOL) and global clinical status after 30 days of adjunctive treatment with tolcapone, a revers-ible inhibitor of catechol-O-methyltransferase, in patients with fluctuating Parkinson's disease.

METHODS

This 30-day, multicenter, open-label, community-based study enrolled fluctuating Parkinson's disease patients to receive tolcapone 100 mg TID as an adjunct to levodopa/carbidopa. The primary end point was QOL change assessed using the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ)-8. Clinical change was assessed using the investigator-rated Clinical Global Impression of Improvement Scale (CGI-I).

RESULTS

Fifty-six physicians enrolled 202 patients; 138 (68%) were > or = 65 years of age and 116 (57%) had Parkinson's disease for > or = 5 years. The mean PDQ-8 total score improved from 42.1 to 34.8 after 30 days of tolcapone (P<.0001). Sixty-nine percent of patients improved on the CGI-I. Physicians planned to continue tolcapone beyond the 30 days in 72%, most commonly because of positive changes in motor function and overall general improvement. No patient discontinued because of liver adverse events.

CONCLUSIONS

Adjunctive tolcapone treatment was associated with statistically significant improvement in QOL in fluctuating Parkinson's disease patients. A majority of patients experienced clinical benefits and continued treatment beyond the end of this study. No liver-related adverse events were reported.

Treatment disparities in Parkinson's disease

We sought to identify racial disparities in the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD). We identified 307 incident PD cases using Pennsylvania State Medicaid claims, and extracted claims for medications, physical therapy, and healthcare visits for the 6 months after diagnosis. After controlling for age, sex, and geography, African-Americans were four times less likely than whites to receive any PD treatment (odds ratio, 0.24; 95% confidence interval, 0.09-0.64), especially indicated medications. In a group with the same healthcare insurance, disparities in PD treatment exist. Physician and community awareness of these racial differences in PD treatment is the first step in addressing healthcare disparities.