The Impact of Telemedicine on Parkinson’s Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Italian Online Survey (original) (raw)
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Telemedicine and e-Health
Introduction: With the spread of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic, telemedicine has become the safest way to guarantee care continuity, especially for chronic disabling diseases requiring frequent medical consultations and therapeutic adjustments, such as Parkinson's disease (PD). The age-related prevalence of PD, combined with increased vulnerability due to age-related comorbidities, makes PD patients protection a priority. Methodology: We reviewed potentials and limitations of teleneurology in PD and suggested a specific battery of tests, including patient-reported outcomes, smartphone applications, and neurological examination through telemedicine. Conclusions: These tools can provide full neurological consultations, with the engagement of both patients and caregivers, and can support clinicians in defining whether patients need to access diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Telemedicine will also carry a value in the future, within conventional health care, to support clinicians in decision making, enabling more efficacious follow-up, reducing burden for caregivers, and delivering neurological expertise to local realities. These advantages are very important when there is physical distance between patients and neurologists, and when patients are not recommended to attend in-person consultations.
Journal of Patient Experience, 2021
Parkinson’s disease and parkinsonism are common chronic neurodegenerative disorders that tend to affect older adults and cause physical and sometimes cognitive limitations. Given that these limitations could impact successful telemedicine use, we aimed to investigate the experiences of patients with parkinsonism using telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic. A 19-item survey was emailed to patients with parkinsonism following telemedicine visits at a single US tertiary care parkinsonism specialty clinic. Seventy-four individuals responded, out of 270 invitations sent. Almost two-thirds (61.6%) of the respondents were comfortable with using technology in general, and almost all were very satisfied with their telemedicine experience. The most commonly reported benefits included cost and travel savings, ease of access to a specialist, and time savings. Issues with technology and previsit instructions were the most commonly identified challenges (28%). Urgent implementation, due to th...
Global Perspective on Telemedicine for Parkinson’s Disease
Journal of Parkinson's Disease, 2021
Telemedicine programs are particularly suited to evaluating patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other movement disorders, primarily because much of the physical exam findings are visual. Telemedicine uses information and communication technologies to overcome geographical barriers and increase access to healthcare service. It is particularly beneficial for rural and underserved communities, groups that traditionally suffer from lack of access to healthcare. There is a growing evidence of the feasibility of telemedicine, cost and time savings, patients’ and physicians’ satisfaction, and its outcome and impact on patients’ morbidity and quality of life. In addition, given the unusual current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine has offered the opportunity to address the ongoing healthcare needs of patients with PD, to reduce in-person clinic visits, and human exposures (among healthcare workers and patients) to a range of infectious diseases including COVID-19. Ho...
Academia Letters, 2022
Background: In Italy, the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 caused the interruption of many health services, first of all non-urgent outpatient services. In this view, telemedicine has emerged as an effective option to reach the most vulnerable patients including those suffering from chronic neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD). Therefore, this technological clinical approach is an attractive, effective and cost-effective option in such a pandemic crisis. Method: This study is based on the survey with a questionnaire that involved 93 PwP enrolled on a voluntary basis. The questionnaire format includes 15 sets of questions that participants answered. The related results were analyzed accordingly. Results: Our study reported that 75.26% expressed appreciation for the topics discussed in the virtual hospital, while 9.28% rated the content of the proposed topics negatively. As for the interaction tools with the Virtual Hospital, we found that 51.55% of patients preferred
Frontiers in Neurology, 2020
Objective: Telemedicine has been increasingly used, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, limited data are available from developing countries. The present study aimed to evaluate the feasibility, satisfaction of patients and physicians, and quality of service provided during virtual visits for Parkinson's disease (PD) patients during the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated limitations. Methods: Thirty-nine PD patients were contacted to schedule virtual visits using the Zoom application. Thereafter, we rated the feasibility, satisfaction, and quality of service provided by virtual visits using patients' and physicians' questionnaires. Results: Twenty-one out of 39 PD patients were scheduled for virtual visits. Nineteen virtual visits out of 21 (90.5%) were conducted successfully; 16 of these were accomplished in the first attempt (76.2%). The scores of satisfaction, quality of service, and set-up/preparation were 9.5 (8.5-10), 9.5 (9-10), and 8 (5-10) for the patients and 9 (7-10), 8 (6-10), and 10 (10-10) for the physicians, respectively. The average time that was saved was 270.79 ± 142.17 min, while an average of 76.38 ± 95.15 km of travel was avoided for the patients per visit. The most common limitations for conducting virtual visits were a lack of Internet connection and the inability to use technology (75%). Conclusions: The present study showed the feasibility and the high satisfaction level of patients and physicians as well as the favorable service quality of virtual visits for PD in a developing country during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the lack of Internet connectivity and the inability to use technology were the main limitations.
Brain Sciences, 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic has posed challenges to maintaining medical care for patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). The Parkinson’s Disease during the COVID-19 Pandemic (ParCoPa) survey was conducted as an online, nationwide, cross-sectional survey from December 2020 to March 2021 and aimed to assess the impact of the pandemic on the medical care of PD patients from the physicians’ perspective. Invitations containing a randomly generated registration code were mailed to healthcare professionals from sixty-seven specialty centers in Germany. Confounders for the worsening of subjective treatment quality, perceived health risk due to the profession, and adequate protective measures against SARS-CoV-2 were assessed using logistic regression analysis. Of all forty physicians who responded, 87.5% reported a worsening of motor and nonmotor symptoms in their patients, 97.5% experienced cancellation of appointments, and difficulties in organizing advanced and supplementary therapies were repo...
Challenges in treating people with Parkinson’s disease during the COVID-19 pandemic
2020
Since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, many countries have enforced a strict shelter-in-place policy to contain the spread of the virus [1]. There is little consensus in the literature over how health workers should proceed concerning patients with chronic neurological diseases, including people with Parkinson’s (PwP) during the COVID-19 pandemic. These patients require longterm care to decrease the severity of the disease amid the pandemic. Therefore, we will propose strategies that may be employed by health workers who care for PwP during the COVID-19 pandemic and may be adapted to suit different social and clinical circumstances (Fig. 1). Many countries have enforced stay-at-home orders, quarantine, or lockdown; consequently, health workers are unable to care for PwP in person. Thus, it is important for health workers to verify whether there are resolutions and/or regulations of their professional associations that allow teleconsultation or telemonitoring of PwP. If so, some fac...
Journal of Clinical Movement Disorders
Background COVID-19 has made itself known to health care providers and families across the world in a matter of months. While primarily a respiratory disorder, it has also been shown to cause neurological symptoms, which can be a concern for Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients. Although PD is not as common as other conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, it affects millions of patients around the world whose care has been affected by the global pandemic. Objectives The aim of this review is to provide insight into the direct and indirect associations between COVID-19 and PD patient care. Results Potential direct effects of COVID-19 include possible neurodegeneration, concerns of symptom self-management with over-the-counter (OTC) products and ICU challenges that can arise in PD patients. In addition, a subset of PD patients may be at higher risk of severe COVID-19 infection. The indirect effects of the pandemic are associated with the social distancing measures and disruptions in ...
Perception of Healthcare Access and Utility of Telehealth Among Parkinson’s Disease Patients
Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences / Journal Canadien des Sciences Neurologiques, 2020
ABSTRACT:Regional patient and physician density patterns pose problems to accessing care for people with Parkinson’s disease, though telehealth may improve access. We surveyed and conducted a focus group for people with Parkinson’s disease in Interior British Columbia regarding barriers to neurological care. Eighteen individuals completed the survey and seven parties joined the focus group. Perceived barriers include cost and difficulty of travel, wait times, and lack of specialized services outside large cities. 80% of participants (95% CI 64–96) would likely use telehealth for follow-up neurologist appointments. This sample of people with Parkinson’s disease reports willingness to use telehealth to reduce travel and improve access to specialty care.