Feasibility of a wearable inertial sensor to assess motor complications and treatment in Parkinson’s disease

BACKGROUND: Wearable sensors-based systems have emerged as a potential tool to continuously monitor Parkinson’s Disease (PD) motor features in free-living environments. OBJECTIVES: To analyse the responsivity of wearable inertial sensor (WIS) measures (On/Off-Time, dyskinesia, freezing of gait (FoG) and gait parameters) after treatment adjustments. We also aim to study the ability of the sensor in the detection of MF, dyskinesia, FoG and the percentage of Off-Time, under ambulatory conditions of use. METHODS: We conducted an observational, open-label study. PD patients wore a validated WIS (STAT-ON(TM)) for one week (before treatment), and one week, three months after therapeutic changes. The patients were analyzed into two groups according to whether treatment changes had been indicated or not. RESULTS: Thirty-nine PD patients were included in the study (PD duration 8 ± 3.5 years). Treatment changes were made in 29 patients (85%). When comparing the two groups (treatment intervention vs no intervention), the WIS detected significant changes in the mean percentage of Off-Time (p = 0.007), the mean percentage of On-Time (p = 0.002), the number of steps (p = 0.008) and the gait fluidity (p = 0.004). The mean percentage of Off-Time among the patients who decreased their Off-Time (79% of patients) was -7.54 ± 5.26. The mean percentage of On-Time among the patients that increased their On-Time (59% of patients) was 8.9 ± 6.46. The Spearman correlation between the mean fluidity of the stride and the UPDRS-III- Factor I was 0.6 (p = <0.001). The system detected motor fluctuations (MF) in thirty-seven patients (95%), whilst dyskinesia and FoG were detected in fifteen (41%), and nine PD patients (23%), respectively. However, the kappa agreement analysis between the UPDRS-IV/clinical interview and the sensor was 0.089 for MF, 0.318 for dyskinesia and 0.481 for FoG. CONCLUSIONS: It’s feasible to use this sensor for monitoring PD treatment under ambulatory conditions. This system could serve as a complementary tool to assess PD motor complications and treatment adjustments, although more studies are required.