Impact of COVID-19 public health interventions

COVID-19 public health interventions were associated with worsening sleep habits and exercise frequency, as well as greater dependency in daily living among patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). No association could be found with worsening movement symptoms or increasing need for levodopa.

The effects of public health interventions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on outcomes in PD patients are unknown. A study was conducted to determine the impact of those interventions on mood, movement, and quality of life of PD patients [1]. More specifically, Mr Ari Vandersluis (Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, OH, USA) and colleagues focused on possible consequences of disrupting lifestyle behaviours known to favour PD outcomes (such as exercise and social interaction frequencies), as well as the introduction of telemedicine for outpatient visits.

Both before and after the onset of COVID-19 public health interventions, comprehensive clinical assessments were carried out in 150 PD patients. The first visit was in-person, the second visit by telephone call. Results of the second, post-COVID visit showed an increase in the Hoehn and Yahr scale, a scale to rate PD progression, compared with the first, pre-COVID visit (n=122; 2.02 vs 1.86; P=0.006) Several non-movement PD symptoms were found to have worsened during the subsequent visit, including activities of daily living status, exercise frequency, and sleep disturbance frequency. There was generally no worsening of movement symptoms, including bradykinesia, rigidity, resting tremor, gait abnormality, and falls. The need for levodopa did not increase.

1. Vandersluis A, et al. Evaluating Outcomes in Parkinson’s Disease Patients Following COVID-19 Interventions. S16.007, AAN 2022, 02–07 April, Seattle, USA.

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Posted on 2 June, 2022