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Bishay AE, Hughes NC, Zargari M, Paulo DL, Bishay S, Lyons AT, Morkos MN, Ball TJ, Englot DJ, Bick SK. Disparities in Access to Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson's Disease and Proposed Interventions: A Literature Review. Stereotact Funct Neurosurg 2024; 102:179-194. [PMID: 38697047 DOI: 10.1159/000538748] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 05/04/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective therapy for Parkinson's disease (PD), but disparities exist in access to DBS along gender, racial, and socioeconomic lines. SUMMARY Women are underrepresented in clinical trials and less likely to undergo DBS compared to their male counterparts. Racial and ethnic minorities are also less likely to undergo DBS procedures, even when controlling for disease severity and other demographic factors. These disparities can have significant impacts on patients' access to care, quality of life, and ability to manage their debilitating movement disorders. KEY MESSAGES Addressing these disparities requires increasing patient awareness and education, minimizing barriers to equitable access, and implementing diversity and inclusion initiatives within the healthcare system. In this systematic review, we first review literature discussing gender, racial, and socioeconomic disparities in DBS access and then propose several patient, provider, community, and national-level interventions to improve DBS access for all populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony E Bishay
- Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, USA,
| | - Natasha C Hughes
- Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Michael Zargari
- Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Danika L Paulo
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Steven Bishay
- Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | | | - Mariam N Morkos
- Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, Glendale, Arizona, USA
| | - Tyler J Ball
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Dario J Englot
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Sarah K Bick
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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2
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Esper CD, Valdovinos BY, Schneider RB. The Importance of Digital Health Literacy in an Evolving Parkinson's Disease Care System. JOURNAL OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE 2024; 14:S181-S189. [PMID: 38250786 DOI: 10.3233/jpd-230229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Abstract
Digital health technologies are growing at a rapid pace and changing the healthcare landscape. Our current understanding of digital health literacy in Parkinson's disease (PD) is limited. In this review, we discuss the potential challenges of low digital health literacy in PD with particular attention to telehealth, deep brain stimulation, wearable sensors, and smartphone applications. We also highlight inequities in access to digital health technologies. Future research is needed to better understand digital health literacy among individuals with PD and to develop effective solutions. We must invest resources to evaluate, understand, and enhance digital health literacy for individuals with PD.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Ruth B Schneider
- Department of Neurology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
- Center for Health + Technology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
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3
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van den Bergh R, Evers LJW, de Vries NM, Silva de Lima AL, Bloem BR, Valenti G, Meinders MJ. Usability and utility of a remote monitoring system to support physiotherapy for people with Parkinson's disease. Front Neurol 2023; 14:1251395. [PMID: 37900610 PMCID: PMC10601712 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1251395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2023] [Accepted: 09/07/2023] [Indexed: 10/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Physiotherapy for persons with Parkinson's disease (PwPD) could benefit from objective and continuous tracking of physical activity and falls in daily life. Objectives We designed a remote monitoring system for this purpose and describe the experiences of PwPD and physiotherapists who used the system in daily clinical practice. Methods Twenty-one PwPD (15 men) wore a sensor necklace to passively record physical activity and falls for 6 weeks. They also used a smartphone app to self-report daily activities, (near-)falls and medication intake. They discussed those data with their PD-specialized physiotherapist (n = 9) during three regular treatment sessions. User experiences and aspects to be improved were gathered through interviews with PwPD and physiotherapists, resulting in system updates. The system was evaluated in a second pilot with 25 new PwPD (17 men) and eight physiotherapists. Results We applied thematic analysis to the interview data resulting in two main themes: usability and utility. First, the usability of the system was rated positively, with the necklace being easy to use. However, some PwPD with limited digital literacy or cognitive impairments found the app unclear. Second, the perceived utility of the system varied among PwPD. While many PwPD were motivated to increase their activity level, others were not additionally motivated because they perceived their activity level as high. Physiotherapists appreciated the objective recording of physical activity at home and used the monitoring of falls to enlarge awareness of the importance of falls for PwPD. Based on the interview data of all participants, we drafted three user profiles for PwPD regarding the benefits of remote monitoring for physiotherapy: for profile 1, a monitoring system could act as a flagging dashboard to signal the need for renewed treatment; for profile 2, a monitoring system could be a motivational tool to maintain physical activity; for profile 3, a monitoring system could passively track physical activity and falls at home. Finally, for a subgroup of PwPD the burdens of monitoring will outweigh the benefits. Conclusions Overall, both PwPD and physiotherapists underline the potential of a remote monitoring system to support physiotherapy by targeting physical activity and (near-)falls. Our findings emphasize the importance of personalization in remote monitoring technology, as illustrated by our user profiles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robin van den Bergh
- Radboud University Medical Center, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Department of Neurology, Center of Expertise for Parkinson and Movement Disorders, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Luc J. W. Evers
- Radboud University Medical Center, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Department of Neurology, Center of Expertise for Parkinson and Movement Disorders, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Radboud University, Institute for Computing and Information Sciences, Department of Data Science, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Nienke M. de Vries
- Radboud University Medical Center, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Department of Neurology, Center of Expertise for Parkinson and Movement Disorders, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Ana L. Silva de Lima
- Radboud University Medical Center, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Department of Neurology, Center of Expertise for Parkinson and Movement Disorders, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Bastiaan R. Bloem
- Radboud University Medical Center, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Department of Neurology, Center of Expertise for Parkinson and Movement Disorders, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Giulio Valenti
- Philips Research, Department of Connected Care and Remote Patient Management, Eindhoven, Netherlands
| | - Marjan J. Meinders
- Radboud University Medical Center, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Department of Neurology, Center of Expertise for Parkinson and Movement Disorders, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Radboud University Medical Center, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Scientific Center for Quality of Healthcare, Nijmegen, Netherlands
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4
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Liu W, Lin X, Chen X, Wang Q, Wang X, Yang B, Cai N, Chen R, Chen G, Lin Y. Vision-based estimation of MDS-UPDRS scores for quantifying Parkinson's disease tremor severity. Med Image Anal 2023; 85:102754. [PMID: 36702036 DOI: 10.1016/j.media.2023.102754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2022] [Revised: 01/07/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative movement disorder among older individuals. As one of the typical symptoms of PD, tremor is a critical reference in the PD assessment. A widely accepted clinical approach to assessing tremors in PD is based on part III of the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS). However, expert assessment of tremor is a time-consuming and laborious process that poses considerable challenges to the medical evaluation of PD. In this paper, we proposed a novel model, Global Temporal-difference Shift Network (GTSN), to estimate the MDS-UPDRS score of PD tremors based on video. The PD tremor videos were scored according to the majority vote of multiple raters. We used Eulerian Video Magnification (EVM) pre-processing to enhance the representations of subtle PD tremors in the videos. To make the model better focus on the tremors in the video, we proposed a special temporal difference module, which stacks the current optical flow to the result of inter-frame difference. The prediction scores were obtained from the Residual Networks (ResNet) embedded with a novel module, the Global Shift Module (GSM), which allowed the features of the current segment to include the global segment features. We carried out independent experiments using PD tremor videos of different body parts based on the scoring content of the MDS-UPDRS. On a fairly large dataset, our method achieved an accuracy of 90.6% for hands with rest tremors, 85.9% for tremors in the leg, and 89.0% for the jaw. An accuracy of 84.9% was obtained for postural tremors. Our study demonstrated the effectiveness of computer-assisted assessment for PD tremors based on video analysis. The latest version of the code is available at https://github.com/199507284711/PD-GTSN.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weiping Liu
- Key Laboratory of OptoElectronic Science and Technology for Medicine of Ministry of Education, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China; Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Photonics Technology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China
| | - Xiaozhen Lin
- Department of Geriatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350005, China
| | - Xinghong Chen
- Key Laboratory of OptoElectronic Science and Technology for Medicine of Ministry of Education, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China; Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Photonics Technology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China
| | - Qing Wang
- Key Laboratory of OptoElectronic Science and Technology for Medicine of Ministry of Education, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China; Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Photonics Technology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China
| | - Xiumei Wang
- Key Laboratory of OptoElectronic Science and Technology for Medicine of Ministry of Education, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China; Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Photonics Technology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China
| | - Bin Yang
- Key Laboratory of OptoElectronic Science and Technology for Medicine of Ministry of Education, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China; Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Photonics Technology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China
| | - Naiqing Cai
- Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350005, China
| | - Rong Chen
- Key Laboratory of OptoElectronic Science and Technology for Medicine of Ministry of Education, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China; Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Photonics Technology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China
| | - Guannan Chen
- Key Laboratory of OptoElectronic Science and Technology for Medicine of Ministry of Education, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China; Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Photonics Technology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China.
| | - Yu Lin
- Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350005, China.
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5
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Riggare S, Stamford J, Hägglund M. A Long Way to Go: Patient Perspectives on Digital Health for Parkinson's Disease. JOURNAL OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE 2022; 11:S5-S10. [PMID: 33682728 PMCID: PMC8385497 DOI: 10.3233/jpd-202408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Digital health promises to improve healthcare, health, and wellness through the use of digital technologies. The purpose of this commentary is to review and discuss the field of digital health for Parkinson’s disease (PD) focusing on the needs, expectations, and wishes of people with PD (PwP). Our analysis shows that PwP want to use digital technologies to actively manage the full complexity of living with PD on an individual level, including the unpredictability and variability of the condition. Current digital health projects focusing on PD, however, does not live up to the expectations of PwP. We conclude that for digital health to reach its full potential, the right of PwP to access their own data needs to be recognised, PwP should routinely receive personalised feedback based on their data, and active involvement of PwP as an equal partner in digital health development needs to be the norm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Riggare
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Jon Stamford
- Gentleman Neuroscientist and Independent Parkinson's Patient Advocate, UK
| | - Maria Hägglund
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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6
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Kinateder T, Marinho D, Gruber D, Hatzler L, Ebersbach G, Gandor F. Sexual Dysfunctions in Parkinson’s Disease and Their Influence on Partnership—Data of the PRISM Study. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12020159. [PMID: 35203923 PMCID: PMC8869894 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12020159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2021] [Revised: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 01/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Sexual dysfunctions (SD) are common but underreported in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and have negative impacts on the quality of life (QoL) and partnership. Methods: We analyzed the data set from the PRISM study for demographics of SD and their influence on quality of life and partnership. Results: 449/861 (52.1%) PD patients reported SD, with male patients being affected more often and having a longer course of disease. The most common SD in men was erectile dysfunction (ED) (n = 152), while women’s most frequent complaints were orgasm dysfunction (n = 84) and reduced libido (n = 81). Hypersexual SDs were reported significantly more often by men. Spousal caregivers of patients reporting inability to relax and enjoy sex and reduced libido indicated a negative influence on the relationship in general. Negative effects on the sexual relationship were reported significantly more often for patients with ED, difficulties with sexual arousal, inability to relax and enjoy sex, and reduced libido. Hypersexual dysfunctions showed no effect on the relationship. Conclusion: SD is a common but underreported problem in the treatment of patients with PD. Due to the negative influence on the relationship and QoL of patients and caregivers, SD should be assessed routinely.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Kinateder
- Movement Disorders Hospital, 14547 Beelitz, Germany; (T.K.); (D.G.); (G.E.)
| | - Daniela Marinho
- Department of Research and Development, BIAL, 4745-457 Trofa, Portugal;
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
| | - Doreen Gruber
- Movement Disorders Hospital, 14547 Beelitz, Germany; (T.K.); (D.G.); (G.E.)
- Department of Neurology, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Laura Hatzler
- Institute of Sexology and Sexual Medicine, Charité—University Medicine Berlin, 10115 Berlin, Germany;
| | - Georg Ebersbach
- Movement Disorders Hospital, 14547 Beelitz, Germany; (T.K.); (D.G.); (G.E.)
| | - Florin Gandor
- Movement Disorders Hospital, 14547 Beelitz, Germany; (T.K.); (D.G.); (G.E.)
- Department of Neurology, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany
- Correspondence:
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7
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Carswell C, Rea PM. What the Tech? The Management of Neurological Dysfunction Through the Use of Digital Technology. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2021; 1317:131-145. [PMID: 33945135 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-61125-5_7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Worldwide, it is estimated that millions of individuals suffer from a neurological disorder which can be the result of head injuries, ischaemic events such as a stroke, or neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD) and multiple sclerosis (MS). Problems with mobility and hemiparesis are common for these patients, making daily life, social factors and independence heavily affected. Current therapies aimed at improving such conditions are often tedious in nature, with patients often losing vital motivation and positive outlook towards their rehabilitation. The interest in the use of digital technology in neuro-rehabilitation has skyrocketed in the past decade. To gain insight, a systematic review of the literature in the field was conducting following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for three categories: stroke, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis. It was found that the majority of the literature (84%) was in favour of the use of digital technologies in the management of neurological dysfunction; with some papers taking a "neutral" or "against" standpoint. It was found that the use of technologies such as virtual reality (VR), robotics, wearable sensors and telehealth was highly accepted by patients, helped to improve function, reduced anxiety and make therapy more accessible to patients living in more remote areas. The most successful therapies were those that used a combination of conventional therapies and new digital technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caitlin Carswell
- Anatomy Facility, School of Life Sciences, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
| | - Paul M Rea
- School of Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
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8
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Bhidayasiri R, Mari Z. Digital phenotyping in Parkinson's disease: Empowering neurologists for measurement-based care. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 2020; 80:35-40. [DOI: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2020.08.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2020] [Revised: 08/26/2020] [Accepted: 08/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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9
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Prell T, Siebecker F, Lorrain M, Eggers C, Lorenzl S, Klucken J, Warnecke T, Buhmann C, Tönges L, Ehret R, Wellach I, Wolz M. Recommendations for Standards of Network Care for Patients with Parkinson's Disease in Germany. J Clin Med 2020; 9:jcm9051455. [PMID: 32414071 PMCID: PMC7290836 DOI: 10.3390/jcm9051455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2020] [Revised: 05/09/2020] [Accepted: 05/09/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Although our understanding of Parkinson’s disease (PD) has improved and effective treatments are available, caring for people with PD remains a challenge. The large heterogeneity in terms of motor symptoms, nonmotor symptoms, and disease progression makes tailored individual therapy and individual timing of treatment necessary. On the other hand, only limited resources are available for a growing number of patients, and the high quality of treatment cannot be guaranteed across the board. At this point, networks can help to make better use of resources and improve care. The working group PD Networks and Integrated Care, part of the German Parkinson Society, is entrusted to convene clinicians, therapists, nurses, researchers, and patients to promote the development of PD networks. This article summarizes the work carried out by the working group PD Networks and Integrated Care in the development of standards of network care for patients with PD in Germany.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tino Prell
- Department of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, 07740 Jena, Germany
- Center for Healthy Ageing, Jena University Hospital, 07740 Jena, Germany
- Correspondence:
| | | | - Michael Lorrain
- Nervenarztpraxis Gerresheim-Pempelfort, 40477 Düsseldorf, Germany;
| | - Carsten Eggers
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Marburg, 35037 Marburg, Germany;
| | - Stefan Lorenzl
- Professorship for Palliative Care, Paracelsus Medical University, 5020 Salzburg, Austria;
- Department of Palliative Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany
- Department of Neurology, Klinikum Agatharied, 83734 Hausham, Germany
| | - Jochen Klucken
- Department of Molecular Neurology, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), 91054 Erlangen, Germany;
- Medical Valley-Digital Health Application Center GmbH, 96047 Bamberg, Germany
- Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Tobias Warnecke
- Department of Neurology, University of Muenster, 48149 Münster, Germany;
| | - Carsten Buhmann
- Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany;
| | - Lars Tönges
- Department of Neurology, St. Josef-Hospital, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44801 Bochum, Germany;
| | | | - Ingmar Wellach
- Office for Neurology and Psychiatry Hamburg Walddörfer, Wiesenkamp 22 c, 22359 Hamburg, Germany;
- Department of Neurology, Ev. Amalie, Sieveking Hospital, 22359 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Martin Wolz
- Department of Neurology, Elblandklinikum Meißen, 01662 Meißen, Germany;
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10
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Schirinzi T, Cerroni R, Di Lazzaro G, Liguori C, Scalise S, Bovenzi R, Conti M, Garasto E, Mercuri NB, Pierantozzi M, Pisani A, Stefani A. Self-reported needs of patients with Parkinson's disease during COVID-19 emergency in Italy. Neurol Sci 2020; 41:1373-1375. [PMID: 32363506 PMCID: PMC7196180 DOI: 10.1007/s10072-020-04442-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2020] [Accepted: 04/25/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Because of COVID-19 outbreak, regular clinical services for Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients have been suddenly suspended, causing worries, confusion and unexpected needs in such frail population. Here, we reviewed the messages spontaneously sent by patients to an Italian PD clinic during the first two weeks of COVID-19 lockdown (9–21 March 2020), in order to highlight their main needs and then outline appropriate strategies of care for this critical period. One hundred sixty-two messages were analysed. Forty-six percent queried about clinical services; 28% communicated an acute clinical worsening for which a therapeutic change was done in 52% of cases; 17% (those patients with younger age and milder disease) asked about the relationship between PD and COVID-19; 8% informed about an intercurrent event. Our analysis suggests that PD patients’ needs during COVID-19 emergency include appropriate and complete information, a timely update on changes in clinical services, and the continuity of care, even in a remote mode. By addressing these issues, acute clinical worsening, complications and subsequent therapeutic changes could be prevented. In this perspective, telecommunication systems and virtual medicine should be implemented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tommaso Schirinzi
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Roma Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier, 00133, Rome, Italy.
| | - Rocco Cerroni
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Roma Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier, 00133, Rome, Italy
| | - Giulia Di Lazzaro
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Roma Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier, 00133, Rome, Italy
| | - Claudio Liguori
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Roma Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier, 00133, Rome, Italy
| | - Simona Scalise
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Roma Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier, 00133, Rome, Italy
| | - Roberta Bovenzi
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Roma Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier, 00133, Rome, Italy
| | - Matteo Conti
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Roma Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier, 00133, Rome, Italy
| | - Elena Garasto
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Roma Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier, 00133, Rome, Italy
| | - Nicola Biagio Mercuri
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Roma Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier, 00133, Rome, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Mariangela Pierantozzi
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Roma Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier, 00133, Rome, Italy
| | - Antonio Pisani
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Roma Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier, 00133, Rome, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Alessandro Stefani
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Roma Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier, 00133, Rome, Italy
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