- Understanding medication adherence and its effect on daily-life motor function in people with Parkinson's

In people with Parkinson’s, motor symptoms such as reduced mobility and tremor, can reduce an individual’s quality of life. To improve these symptoms, individuals take multiple doses of medication (e.g., Levodopa), multiple times per day, we refer to this as medication regimens. In people with Parkinson’s, medication regimens tend to be very complex, and difficult to adhere to. Clinicians typically adapt regimens based on short, infrequent appointments when they ask people with Parkinson’s questions about how their medication is working. To better adapt medication regimens, clinicians would require in depth insights of how medication influences people with Parkinson’s during their daily lives. Digital health technology, such as smartphones, smartwatches, and body worn sensors can provide these insights by continuously and remotely monitoring medication intake and motor symptoms.

The Confidence in Concept (CiC) study is led by Dr Silvia Del Din. The study uses a digital health technology system to explore how medication influences daily life mobility and motor symptoms in 55 people with Parkinson’s. The study asks participants to interact with a digital health technology system over seven consecutive days.

Currently, 46 people with Parkinson’s have completed our study, with 9 participants still to go!

We have two study-related papers published in international scientific journals, with the most recent published in the open-access British Medical Journal! The first paper explores the feasibility (can the devices collect the intended data?) and usability (can participants use the devices?) of the technology within the first 30 participants. Overall, we showed that the technology could successfully monitor medication intake times and motor symptoms, but there were some improvements to be made. The insights from this paper were used to optimise the system for the remaining 25 participants, ensuring the system is collecting the intended data and was easy to use for all participants. We have also published the protocol paper which provides information for other researchers to accurately replicate this study with other people with Parkinson’s and enhance our understanding further.

You can read both these papers through clicking the links below.

If you have any questions, please contact Emma Packer email: e.packer@newcastle.ac.uk.

If you receive emails from Parkinson’s UK, you may have completed our recent online Parkinson’s survey. This survey explored the use of technology in daily medication management in people with Parkinson’s. This survey is now closed, and we had great success! We had over 300 people with Parkinson’s from across the world completing the survey, with respondents from Australia, Canada, America, Israel, England, and more!

We are currently analysing the data from the various aspects of our study, with the aim to disseminate findings early next year. Using the insights gained from our work, we hope to provide essential insights for clinicians to optimise medication regimens in people with Parkinson’s and improve their quality of life.