[Multidisciplinary Complex Treatment of Parkinson's disease : Cornerstone of an individualized treatment]. / Multidisziplinäre Komplextherapie der Parkinson-Krankheit : Eckpfeiler einer individualisierten Behandlung.

BACKGROUND: The inpatient Parkinson's disease multimodal complex treatment (PD-MCT) was applied more than 15,000 times in 2022, in Germany. This number is increasing as is Parkinson's disease (PD), which affects more than 400,000 people in Germany and leads to 100,000 disability-adjusted life years. In recent years, several observational studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of this kind of multidisciplinary care. OBJECTIVE: To summarize and discuss the evidence on the nature, benefits and potential of PD-MCT. METHODS: A narrative review of selected empirical findings was carried out. RESULTS: The PD-MCT frequently lasts for 2-3 weeks and aims to maintain the quality of life of people with PD. Disease symptoms and activities of daily living are jointly improved by pharmacological strategies and activating therapies (physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, physical training, art therapy). The PD-MCT is a useful measure to avoid or mitigate crisis situations in the course of the disease. A total of eight observational studies (n = 1246) have shown good effectiveness with a total mean improvement of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society unified Parkinson's disease rating scale III (MDS-UPDRS III) by 7.8 points. The transfer of effects into everyday life through intensive and specialized community-based care must be ensured in order to achieve sustained effects on the quality of life. Ideally, this transfer can be supported by integrated PD networks and digital technologies in the future. CONCLUSION: There is potential for development in the standardization, patient selection and quality assurance of PD-MCT as well as in the embedding in care structures such as PD networks. Open research questions include a precise definition of the target group and higher quality evidence of short-term and long-term effectiveness.

Data-driven subtyping of Parkinson's disease: comparison of current methodologies and application to the Bochum PNS cohort.

Considerable efforts have been made to better describe and identify Parkinson's disease (PD) subtypes. Cluster analyses have been proposed as an unbiased development approach for PD subtypes that could facilitate their identification, tracking of progression, and evaluation of therapeutic responses. A data-driven clustering analysis was applied to a PD cohort of 114 subjects enrolled at St. Josef-Hospital of the Ruhr University in Bochum (Germany). A wide spectrum of motor and non-motor scores including polyneuropathy-related measures was included into the analysis. K-means and hierarchical agglomerative clustering were performed to identify PD subtypes. Silhouette and Calinski-Harabasz Score Elbow were then employed as supporting evaluation metrics for determining the optimal number of clusters. Principal Component Analysis (PCA), analysis of variance (ANOVA), and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were conducted to determine the relevance of each score for the clusters' definition. Three PD cluster subtypes were identified: early onset mild type, intermediate type, and late-onset severe type. The between-cluster analysis consistently showed highly significant differences (P < 0.01), except for one of the scores measuring polyneuropathy (Neuropathy Disability Score; P = 0.609) and Levodopa dosage (P = 0.226). Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39), Non-motor Symptom Questionnaire (NMSQuest), and the MDS-UPDRS Part II were found to be crucial factors for PD subtype differentiation. The present analysis identifies a specific set of criteria for PD subtyping based on an extensive panel of clinical and paraclinical scores. This analysis provides a foundation for further development of PD subtyping, including k-means and hierarchical agglomerative clustering.Trial registration: DRKS00020752, February 7, 2020, retrospectively registered.

COVID-19 outcomes in hospitalized Parkinson's disease patients in two pandemic waves in 2020: a nationwide cross-sectional study from Germany.

BACKGROUND: The individualized clinical and public health management of the COVID-19 pandemic have changed over time, including care of people with PD. The objective was to investigate whether in-hospital COVID-19 outcomes and hospital care utilization of people with PD differed between the first two pandemic waves (W) 2020 in Germany. METHODS: We conducted a nationwide cross-sectional study of inpatients with confirmed COVID-19 and PD between March 1 and May 31 (W1), and October 1 and December 31 (W2), 2020 and 2019, using an administrative database. Outcomes were in-hospital mortality, ICU admission rate, change in hospital care utilization, demographical data, PD clinical characteristics, and selected comorbidities. Differences were assessed between waves, PD/non-PD groups, and years. RESULTS: We identified 2600 PD COVID-19 inpatients in W2 who in total showed higher in-hospital mortality rates and lower ICU admission rates, compared to both W1 (n = 775) and W1/W2 non-PD COVID-19 inpatients (n = 144,355). Compared to W1, W2 inpatients were more long-term care-dependent, older, more of female sex, and had less advanced disease. During both waves, PD inpatients were older, more frequently male and long-term care-dependent, and showed more risk comorbidities than non-PD COVID-19 inpatients. Decreases in hospital care utilization were stronger than average for PD inpatients but relatively weaker during W2. Non-COVID-19 PD inpatients showed poorer in-hospital outcomes in 2020 than in 2019 with better outcomes during W2. CONCLUSIONS: In-hospital COVID-19 outcomes and hospital care utilization of PD patients in Germany differed between the two pandemic waves in 2020 with increased in-hospital mortality for PD COVID-19. Overall hospital care utilization for PD was increased during W2. TRIAL REGISTRATION: No trial registration or ethical approval was required because data were publicly available, anonymized, and complied with the German data protection regulations.

Parkinson's disease multimodal complex treatment improves gait performance: an exploratory wearable digital device-supported study.

BACKGROUND: Wearable device-based parameters (DBP) objectively describe gait and balance impairment in Parkinson's disease (PD). We sought to investigate correlations between DBP of gait and balance and clinical scores, their respective changes throughout the inpatient multidisciplinary Parkinson's Disease Multimodal Complex Treatment (PD-MCT), and correlations between their changes. METHODS: This exploratory observational study assessed 10 DBP and clinical scores at the start (T1) and end (T2) of a two-week PD-MCT of 25 PD in patients (mean age: 66.9 years, median HY stage: 2.5). Subjects performed four straight walking tasks under single- and dual-task conditions, and four balance tasks. RESULTS: At T1, reduced gait velocity and larger sway area correlated with motor severity. Shorter strides during motor-motor dual-tasking correlated with motor complications. From T1 to T2, gait velocity improved, especially under dual-task conditions, stride length increased for motor-motor dual-tasking, and clinical scores measuring motor severity, balance, dexterity, executive functions, and motor complications changed favorably. Other gait parameters did not change significantly. Changes in motor complications, motor severity, and fear of falling correlated with changes in stride length, sway area, and measures of gait stability, respectively. CONCLUSION: DBP of gait and balance reflect clinical scores, e.g., those of motor severity. PD-MCT significantly improves gait velocity and stride length and favorably affects additional DBP. Motor complications and fear of falling are factors that may influence the response to PD-MCT. A DBP-based assessment on admission to PD inpatient treatment could allow for more individualized therapy that can improve outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER AND DATE: DRKS00020948 number, 30-Mar-2020, retrospectively registered.

Hospital Admissions for Neurodegenerative Diseases during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study from Germany.

(1) Background: The COVID-19 pandemic impacts healthcare utilization across all care settings and health conditions. The objective of this study was to determine changes in hospital admissions for neurodegenerative diseases (NDD) during the first COVID-19 wave in Germany; (2) Methods: This cross-sectional study used nationwide administrative claims data covering 1468 hospitals. The primary outcome was the year-to-year relative change in case numbers during a four-month study period (16 January-15 May 2020 vs. 2019) during the first pandemic wave. Secondary outcomes included year-to-year relative changes during a four-week peak phase (16 March-15 April) and changes between differential phases of the wave. The analyzed NDD comprised progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), multiple system atrophy (MSA), Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Huntington's disease; (3) Results: Hospital admissions for any reason decreased by 16.7% in 2020 during the study period and by 36.6% during the peak phase, whereas admissions for NDD decreased by 27.6% and 65.0%, respectively. PSP cases decreased during the study period (-34.7%) and the peak phase (-68.1%) and stayed reduced in a late phase with falling COVID-19 numbers. MSA and ALS cases increased strongest after the peak, with ALS cases being comparatively weakly reduced during the study period (-17.3%) and peak phase (-51.7%); (4) Conclusions: Inpatient care utilization for NDD changed differentially during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany and showed a greater reduction than overall and general neurological admissions. Mitigating long-term health deterioration of this vulnerable subgroup is important to reduce morbidity and mortality in the future.

Prevalence and Characteristics of Polyneuropathy in Atypical Parkinsonian Syndromes: An Explorative Study.

(1) Background: Peripheral nerve involvement is increasingly recognized in Parkinson's disease (PD). Although non-motor symptoms and postural instability are early features of atypical parkinsonian syndromes (APS), peripheral neuropathies in APS have not been addressed in detail thus far. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of polyneuropathies (PNP) in multiple system atrophy (MSA) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), as representative syndromes of APS. (2) Methods: In total, 8 MSA and 6 PSP patients were comprehensively analyzed regarding subjective, clinical (motor and non-motor) and paraclinical PNP features using nerve conduction studies and high resolution nerve ultrasounds (HRUS). (3) Results: A total of 87.5% of MSA and 66.7% of PSP patients complained of at least one neuropathic symptom, with electrophysiological confirmation of PNP in 50.0% of both, MSA and PSP patients. PNP symptom severity in PSP and motor nerve amplitude in MSA were associated with compromised motor function. Morphologic nerve examination by HRUS showed few alterations according to the axonal type of PNP. (4) Conclusions: The overall high PNP symptom burden may be partially credited to the significant prevalence of electrophysiologically diagnosed PNP, and impact motor aspects of APS. The findings of this exploratory study reinforce further investigations on a larger scale, in order to elucidate peripheral nerve involvement and the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of APS.

Clinical Profiles and Mortality of COVID-19 Inpatients with Parkinson's Disease in Germany.

BACKGROUND: Comprehensive, nationwide data regarding Parkinson's disease (PD) hospitalizations, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in-hospital frequency, and COVID-19-associated inpatient mortality during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic are not available. OBJECTIVE: To provide a nationwide analysis on hospitalized PD patients in Germany and evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study using an administrative claims database covering 1468 hospitals and 5,210,432 patient hospitalizations including a total of 30,872 COVID-19+ cases between January 16 and May 15, 2020. RESULTS: Compared to 2019, hospitalizations for PD transiently decreased by up to 72.7% in 2020. COVID-19 frequency was significantly higher in the population of 64,434 PD patients (693 being COVID-19+ ) than in non-PD patients (1.1% vs. 0.6%, P < 0.001), especially in subjects with advanced age (≥ 65 years). Regarding established COVID-19 risk comorbidities, COVID-19+ inpatients with PD showed higher incidences than non-PD COVID-19+ subjects, particularly hypertension and chronic kidney disease. Advanced age and male sex were significantly more frequent in COVID-19+ than in COVID-19- PD patients. The COVID-19 inpatient mortality rate was much higher in PD patients than in non-PD patients (35.4% vs. 20.7%, P < 0.001), especially in patients aged 75-79 years. Of note, overall inpatient mortality of PD patients was significantly higher in 2020 than in 2019 (5.7% vs. 4.9%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: PD inpatients are more frequently affected by COVID-19 and suffer from increased COVID-19-associated mortality in comparison to non-PD patients. More comprehensive studies are needed to assess the significance of associated comorbidities for COVID-19 risk and mortality in PD. © 2021 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Analysis of nationwide multimodal complex treatment and drug pump therapy in Parkinson's disease in times of COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.

INTRODUCTION: During the first peak phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, the German Ministry of Health recommended that elective treatments should be postponed to increase hospital capacities. This has also compromised the capacity for application of specialized Parkinson's disease (PD) therapies to an unknown extent. METHODS: We conducted a nationwide cross-sectional study using administrative database of all hospitalized patients with main diagnosis of PD receiving multimodal complex treatment (PD-MCT), initial setup of levodopa/carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG) or continuous subcutaneous apomorphine infusion (CSAI) in Germany. We compared case numbers and clinical characteristics of the pandemic (March 16th - May 15th, 2020) and post-lockdown (July 16th - September 15th, 2020) period with the pre-pandemic (January 16th - March 15th, 2020) and historical control period (March 16th - May 15th, 2019). RESULTS: We identified a strong decline for PD-MCT(-62.8%) and for the application of drug pump-based therapies (-69.4%) during the first peak phase of the pandemic as compared to the pre-pandemic period while specialized PD treatment procedures increased again in the post-lockdown phase. Advanced disease was a marker for PD-MCT patients during the pandemic period. CONCLUSION: Besides the marked decline in specialized PD treatments during the first peak phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, we found recuperative effects for these procedures in the post-lockdown period without reaching pre-pandemic levels. Strengthening treatment capacities for PD patients, even in the event of a persistent pandemic, is urgently needed in order to maintain the quality of care.

Parkinson's Disease Multimodal Complex Treatment (PD-MCT): Analysis of Therapeutic Effects and Predictors for Improvement.

Parkinson's disease Multimodal Complex Treatment (PD-MCT) is a multidisciplinary inpatient treatment approach that has been demonstrated to improve motor function and quality of life in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). In this study, we assessed the efficacy of PD-MCT and calculated predictors for improvement. We performed a prospective analysis in a non-randomized, open-label observational patient cohort. Study examinations were done at baseline (BL), at discharge after two-weeks of inpatient treatment (DC) and at a six-week follow-up examination (FU). Besides Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) III as a primary outcome, motor performance was measured by the Timed Up-and-Go (TUG), the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and the Perdue Pegboard Test (PPT). Until DC, motor performance improved significantly in several parameters and was largely maintained until FU (MDS-UPDRS III BL-to-DC: -4.7 ± 1.2 (SE) p = 0.0012, BL-to-FU: -6.1 ± 1.3 p = 0.0001; TUG BL-to-DC: -2.5 ± 0.9 p = 0.015, BL-to-FU: 2.4 ± 0.9 p = 0.027; BBS BL-to-DC: 2.4 ± 0.7 p = 0.003, BL-to-FU: 1.3 ± 0.7 p = 0.176, PPT BL-to-DC: 3.0 ± 0.5 p = 0.000004, BL-to-FU: 1.7 ± 0.7 p = 0.059). Overall, nontremor items were more therapy responsive than tremor items. Motor complications evaluated with MDS-UPDRS IV occurred significantly less frequent at DC (-1.8 ± 0.5 p = 0.002). Predictor analyses revealed an influence of initial motor impairment and disease severity on the treatment response in different motor aspects. In summary, we demonstrate a significant positive treatment effect of PD-MCT on motor function of PD patients which can be maintained in several parameters for an extended time period of six weeks and identify predictors for an improvement of motor function.

Parkinson's Disease Multimodal Complex Treatment improves motor symptoms, depression and quality of life.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the world's fastest growing neurological disorder disabling patients through a broad range of motor and non-motor symptoms. For the clinical management, a multidisciplinary approach has increasingly been shown to be beneficial. In Germany, inpatient Parkinson's Disease Multimodal Complex Treatment (PD-MCT) is a well-established and frequent approach, although data on its effectiveness are rare. We conducted a prospective real-world observational study in 47 subjects [age (M ± SD): 68.5 ± 9.0 years, disease duration: 8.5 ± 5.3 years, modified Hoehn and Yahr stage (median, IQR): 3, 2.5-3] aiming at evaluating the effectiveness of 14-day PD-MCT in terms of quality of life (Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire, EuroQol), motor [Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Part III (MDS-UPDRS III], Timed Up and Go Test, Purdue Pegboard Test) and non-motor symptoms (revised Beck Depression Inventory). Six weeks after hospital discharge, a follow-up examination was performed. PD patients with a predominantly moderate disability level benefited from PD-MCT in terms of health-related quality of life, motor symptoms and non-motor symptoms (depression). Significant improvements were found for social support, emotional well-being and bodily discomfort domains of health-related quality of life. Sustainable improvement occurred for motor symptoms and the subjective evaluation of health state. We found a higher probability of motor response especially for patients with moderate motor impairment (MDS-UPDRS III ≥ 33). In conclusion, Parkinson's Disease Multimodal Complex Treatment improves motor symptoms, depression and quality of life. A more detailed selection of patients who will benefit best from this intervention should be examined in future studies.

Dynamics of Parkinson's Disease Multimodal Complex Treatment in Germany from 2010⁻2016: Patient Characteristics, Access to Treatment, and Formation of Regional Centers.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is currently the world's fastest-growing neurological disorder. It is characterized by motor and non-motor symptoms which progressively lead to significant clinical impairment, causing a high burden of disease. In addition to pharmacological therapies, various non-pharmacological treatment options are available. A well established and frequently used multiprofessional inpatient treatment concept in Germany is "Parkinson's disease multimodal complex treatment" (PD-MCT) which involves physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, and other specializations for the optimization of treatment in PD (ICD G20) and other Parkinsonian syndromes (ICD G21 and G23). In this study we analyze the PD-MCT characteristics of 55,141 PD inpatients who have been integrated into this therapy concept in Germany in the years 2010⁻2016. We demonstrate that PD-MCT is increasingly applied over this time period. Predominately, PD patients with advanced disease stage and motor fluctuations in age groups between 45 and 69 years were hospitalized. In terms of gender, more male than female patients were treated. PD-MCT is provided primarily in specialized hospitals with high patient numbers but a minor part of all therapies is performed in a rather large number of hospitals with each one treating only a few patients. Access to PD-MCT differs widely across regions, leading to significant migration of patients from underserved areas to PD-MCT centers ⁻ a development that should be considered when implementing such therapies in other countries. Furthermore, our data imply that despite the overall increase in PD-MCT treatments during the observational period, the restricted treatment accessibility may not adequately satisfy current patient´s need.