Tailoring wearable technology and telehealth in treating Parkinson's
disease
Timely and accurate tremor data can improve virtual appointments

Date:
August 18, 2021
Source:
University of British Columbia Okanagan campus
Summary:
Wearable health technologies are vastly popular with people
wanting to improve their physical and mental health. Everything
from exercise, sleep patterns, calories consumed and heart rhythms
can be tracked by a wearable device. But timely and accurate data
is also especially valuable for doctors treating patients with
complicated health conditions using virtual care.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Wearable health technologies are vastly popular with people wanting
to improve their physical and mental health. Everything from exercise,
sleep patterns, calories consumed and heart rhythms can be tracked by
a wearable device.


==========================================================================
But timely and accurate data is also especially valuable for doctors
treating patients with complicated health conditions using virtual care.

A new study from the Southern Medical Program (SMP), based at UBC
Okanagan, has examined the use of wearable health technology and
telehealth to treat patients with Parkinson's disease.

Dr. Daryl Wile, a movement disorder specialist and SMP clinical assistant professor, routinely uses telehealth to connect with Parkinson's patients across the vast and rugged landscape of BC's Interior.

"Even prior to the pandemic, telehealth helped deliver specialized
care to patients living in remote and rural settings," says Wile, a
clinical investigator with the Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention
and Management.

"But with the complex nature of Parkinson's, we wanted to enhance
these appointments to better understand how movements vary throughout
a patient's entire day." To add a new layer of health information,
Wile and the research team added wearable technology to the equation.

"We recruited Parkinson's patients with either tremors or involuntary movements," says Joshua Yoneda, SMP student and co-author of the
study. "We then divided them into two groups -- some using telehealth and device-based health tracking and others attending traditional face-to-face appointments." The telehealth group wore wearable devices to track their movements, involuntary or not, throughout waking hours. The reported
data was then reviewed during telehealth appointments to identify peak
times patients experienced Parkinson's symptoms.

"With the integration of accurate and reliable data from wearable devices,
we were able to tailor a patient's medication to better manage their
symptoms throughout the day," adds Wile.

As part of the study, patients were asked a series of questions from the standardized Parkinson Disease Quality of Life Index. Both study groups
were assessed at intervals of six weeks, three months and six months.

Overall, the patients using the wearable devices reported positive
experiences and health outcomes in combination with telehealth
appointments to access specialized care.

"There's definitely a strong case to leverage multiple technologies to
improve a patient's quality of life and limit the added stress and cost associated with travel," says Yoneda.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_British_Columbia_Okanagan_campus. Note: Content may be
edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Dakota Peacock, Joshua Yoneda, Vanessa Thomson, Daryl
Wile. Tailoring the
use of wearable systems and telehealth for Parkinson's disease.

Parkinsonism & Related Disorders, 2021; 89: 111 DOI: 10.1016/
j.parkreldis.2021.07.004 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210818135215.htm

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