Correction: Impact of disease stage and age at Parkinson's onset on patients' primary concerns: Insights for targeted management.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0243051.].

Orofacial dystonia and asssociated bulbar symptoms in multiple system atrophy: A blinded video analysis.

BACKGROUND: Orofacial dystonia (OFD) is considered a supporting feature for a diagnosis of Multiple System Atrophy (MSA). However, the association of OFD with other adjacent symptoms has not been explored. OBJECTIVES: To identify clinical characteristics of OFD and associated bulbar symptoms in MSA patients. METHODS: In this blinded trial, video clips of 24 MSA patients were reviewed by two movement disorder neurologists who rated the presence of OFD. Analysis was performed to determine correlations between the presence of OFD and clinical demographics as well as associated bulbar symptoms. RESULTS: There were 14 patients with MSA-P and 10 patients with MSA-C. OFD was identified in seven patients (29.16%) and MSA-P as the majority (85.71%). Oromandibular dystonia (OMD) was hardly ever identified in isolation with the most frequent combination being OMD with upper facial dystonia, blepharospasm and platysma dystonia. All OMD patients had the jaw-closing subtype. Mean onset of OFD was 1.7 (SD = 0.5) years after the first symptom onset and 1.1 years (SD = 0.4) after the introduction of levodopa. Patients with OFD used significantly higher levodopa equivalent daily dosage (LEDD) than those without (p = 0.02). There were moderate correlations between the presence of OFD and LEDD (r = 0.458, p = 0.02), and dysarthria (r = 0.639, p = 0.001) while a strong correlation was demonstrated between the presence of OFD and dysphagia (r = 0.9, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: OFD is probably a manifestation of motor fluctuations in MSA and its presence is significantly associated with bulbar symptoms. Neurologists should inquire about dysphagia when encountering MSA patients with OFD for early recognition and appropriate management.

Impact of disease stage and age at Parkinson's onset on patients' primary concerns: Insights for targeted management.

BACKGROUND: The concerns of people with Parkinson's disease (PD) about their disease are often different from the objective clinical picture and subject to various influencing factors, including disease progression. Currently our understanding of these concerns is limited, particularly in Asian countries. METHODS: A 50-item survey on Parkinson's Disease Patients' Concerns (PDPC Survey) was developed by a multidisciplinary care team. The subjective greatest concerns (most commonly concerning symptoms) of patients at a specialist centre in Bangkok, Thailand, were explored and categorised according to disease stage and age at onset of PD. RESULTS: Data for 222 patients showed concerns varied widely. Motor symptoms giving the greatest concern were problems with walking and/or balance (40.5% of patients), while the most commonly concerning non-motor symptom (NMS) was constipation (41.0%). Patterns were observed amongst different patient subgroups. Early PD patients (H&Y stage 1) were more concerned about NMS than motor symptoms, while the reverse was true for advanced PD patients. Young-onset PD patients showed significantly greater concerns than typical-onset patients about motor symptoms relating to social functioning, working and stigmatisation, such as speech (p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: This study, in an Asian patient cohort, provides an assessment of a wide range of PD patients' concerns, encompassing not only motor symptoms and NMS, but also treatment-related adverse events, care in the advanced stage, and the need for assistive devices. Identifying the concerns of individual PD patients and implementing a patient-centred approach to care is critical to their wellbeing and optimal outcomes. The PDPC survey can help healthcare teams build a more accurate picture of patients' experiences to inform clinical management.

Establishing apomorphine treatment in Thailand: understanding the challenges and opportunities of Parkinson's disease management in developing countries.

INTRODUCTION: The increasing global burden of Parkinson's disease (PD) poses a particular challenge for developing countries, such as Thailand, when delivering care to a geographically diverse populace with limited resources, often compounded by a lack of expertise in the use of certain PD medications, such as device-aided therapies (DAT). AREAS COVERED: A panel of local, regional, and international PD experts convened to review the unmet needs of PD in Thailand and share insights into effective delivery of DAT, focusing on experience with apomorphine infusion. Despite its proven efficacy and safety, implementation of apomorphine infusion as a new option was not straightforward. This has prompted a range of health-care professional and patient-focused initiatives, led by the Chulalongkorn Center of Excellence for Parkinson's Disease and Related Disorders in Bangkok, to help establish a more coordinated approach to PD management throughout the country and ensure patients have access to suitable treatments. EXPERT OPINION: Overcoming the challenges of education, proficiency, resource capacity and standard of care for PD patients in developing countries requires a coordinated effort both nationally and beyond. The best practices identified in Thailand following the introduction of apomorphine infusion might be helpful for other countries when implementing similar programs.

Delivering patient-centered care in Parkinson's disease: Challenges and consensus from an international panel.

An international panel of movement disorders specialists explored the views and perceptions of people with Parkinson's disease (PD) about their condition and its treatment, including the potential mismatch between the clinician's view of the patient's condition and their own view of what aspects of the disease most affect their daily lives. The initiative was focused on Asian countries, so participants comprised experts in the management of PD from key centers in Asia, with additional insight provided by European and the North American movement disorders experts. Analysis of peer-reviewed publications on patient perceptions of PD and the factors that they consider important to their wellbeing identified several contributing factors to the mismatch of views, including gaps in knowledge of PD and its treatment, an understanding of the clinical heterogeneity of PD, and the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to patient care. The faculty proposed options to bridge these gaps to ensure that PD patients receive the personalized treatment they need to achieve the best possible outcomes. It was considered essential to improve patient knowledge about PD and its treatment, as well as increasing the awareness of clinicians of PD heterogeneity in presentation and treatment response. A multidisciplinary and shared-care approach to PD was needed alongside the use of patient-centered outcome measures in clinical trials and clinical practice to better capture the patient experience and improve the delivery of individualized therapy.