Journal of Parkinson's Disease - Volume 7, issue 4

Authors: Lennaerts, Herma | Groot, Marieke | Rood, Berna | Gilissen, Koen | Tulp, Hella | van Wensen, Erik | Munneke, Marten | van Laar, Teus | Bloem, Bastiaan R.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Background: Parkinson’s Disease Nurse Specialists (PDNS) play an important role in the care for patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and their caregivers. Until now, there were no nursing guidelines in PD, and interventions were based solely on daily clinical practice because there is no evidence to support the merits of nursing interventions. Consequently, there is little uniformity in current care delivery. Objective: Developing a guideline for PDNS. Methods: We developed a guideline based on a questionnaire among PDNS and a literature review, supplemented with expert opinion plus the input of patients and caregivers. The questionnaire was …filled in by 97 PDNS and 51 generic nurses with knowledge of PD to identify barriers in PD nursing care. Subsequently, we did a systematic literature search and transformed these sources of information into practice recommendations, which were developed according to international standards for guideline development. Results: Based on the results of the questionnaire we identified seven specific core areas: defining the role of PDNS in terms of caseload, education, competences and care coordination; medication adherence; provision of information and education; coping; caregiver support; urogenital function and orthostatic hypotension. The systematic literature search identified 186 studies, of which 33 studies were finally analyzed. Furthermore, we developed practice recommendations based on good clinical practice for the following areas: self-care, mental functioning, mobility, nutrition, sexuality, work, sleep, palliative care and complementary (integrative) care. Conclusion: This guideline provide ground to harmonize care delivery by PDNS in clinical practice, and offer a foundation for future research. Show more

Keywords: Evidence-based medicine, Parkinson’s disease, Parkinson’s Disease Nurse Specialist, guideline

DOI: 10.3233/JPD-171195

Citation: Journal of Parkinson's Disease, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 749-754, 2017

Authors: Miocinovic, Svjetlana | Shoeb, Ali H. | Wang, Sarah | Byrd, Erica A. | Swann, Nicole C. | Pathak, Anupam | Ostrem, Jill L.

Article Type: Short Communication

Abstract: We demonstrate the feasibility of estimating clinical tremor scores using an eating utensil with motion-sensing and tremor-cancellation technology in thirteen patients with tremor. Three experts scored hand tremor using the modified Fahn- Tolosa-Marin (FTM) scale. A linear model was trained to estimate tremor severity using the recorded motion signals. The average neurologist FTM score was 1.6±0.7 for PD and 2.6±0.7 for ET patients. The average model score was 1.6±0.7 for PD and 2.6±0.6 for ET. Correlation coefficient between the clinical and model tremor scores was 0.91 (p  < 0.001). Motion data from an instrumented eating utensil accurately derived tremor ratings enabling …practical, objective daily monitoring. Show more

Keywords: Tremor, essential tremor, Parkinson’s disease, non-invasive device, Liftwear measurement

DOI: 10.3233/JPD-160929

Citation: Journal of Parkinson's Disease, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 755-759, 2017