Detecting and monitoring the symptoms of Parkinson's disease using smartphones: A pilot study

• Published in: Parkinsonism & related disorders Vol. 21; no. 6; pp. 650 - 653
• Main Authors: Arora, S, Venkataraman, V, Zhan, A, Donohue, S, Biglan, K.M, Dorsey, E.R, Little, M.A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-06-2015
• Subjects: Aged; Diagnostic test assessment; Female; Fingers; Gait; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Motor assessment; Motor Skills; Neurology; Parkinson Disease - diagnosis; Parkinson Disease - physiopathology; Parkinson's disease; Pilot Projects; Posture; Reaction Time - physiology; Sensitivity and Specificity; Severity of Illness Index; Smartphone; Smartphone - instrumentation; Speech; Telemedicine; Voice; Speech; Motor assessment; Parkinson's disease; Smartphone; Diagnostic test assessment
• ISSN: 1353-8020; 1873-5126
• DOI: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2015.02.026

Abstract Background Remote, non-invasive and objective tests that can be used to support expert diagnosis for Parkinson's disease (PD) are lacking. Methods Participants underwent baseline in-clinic assessments, including the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), and were provided smartphones with an Android operating system that contained a smartphone application that assessed voice, posture, gait, finger tapping, and response time. Participants then took the smart phones home to perform the five tasks four times a day for a month. Once a week participants had a remote (telemedicine) visit with a Parkinson disease specialist in which a modified (excluding assessments of rigidity and balance) UPDRS performed. Using statistical analyses of the five tasks recorded using the smartphone from 10 individuals with PD and 10 controls, we sought to: (1) discriminate whether the participant had PD and (2) predict the modified motor portion of the UPDRS. Results Twenty participants performed an average of 2.7 tests per day (68.9% adherence) for the study duration (average of 34.4 days) in a home and community setting. The analyses of the five tasks differed between those with Parkinson disease and those without. In discriminating participants with PD from controls, the mean sensitivity was 96.2% (SD 2%) and mean specificity was 96.9% (SD 1.9%). The mean error in predicting the modified motor component of the UPDRS (range 11–34) was 1.26 UPDRS points (SD 0.16). Conclusion Measuring PD symptoms via a smartphone is feasible and has potential value as a diagnostic support tool.