Objectives
The National Board of Health and Welfare in Sweden published the national guidelines for Parkinson's Disease 2016. The aim of this study was to summarize this evidence review and ...development of the guidelines, focusing on the economic evaluation of device‐aided therapies (deep brain stimulation, pump‐based infusion of levodopa‐carbidopa intestinal gel or apomorphine) for Parkinson's disease, and the rate of implementation after 3 years in Sweden.
Material and methods
The evidence review underlying the guidelines—including systematic literature searches of clinical and economic evidence, model‐based economic evaluation, and formal analysis and guideline development—was examined, condensed, and translated. The impact of the guidelines was assessed with treatment use statistics from 2009 to 2019.
Results
All device‐aided therapies were assigned high priority. Based on a relatively low proportion of device‐aided therapies (30%) in Parkinson's disease, a 5‐year increase of 500 patients was recommended. This was estimated to reduce total costs by SEK 14 million (€1.7 million). Follow‐up data found an increase of 217 patients between 2017 and 2019, following the same trend as before the guidelines.
Conclusion
Three years after the guidelines were published, the use of device‐aided therapies has increased in Sweden, albeit not in pace with recommendations. One reason for slow implementation may be poor incentivization related to budget silos in which the costs for device‐aided therapies are borne by the regions but the cost offsets (eg, reduced need for home care) are reaped by local stakeholders.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the world. The diagnosis of PD is based on movement dysfunctions. Many patients also suffer from comorbid depression in ...spite of adequate treatment with dopamine replacement, indicating that also other non-dopaminergic mechanisms are involved. Indeed, neuropeptides are critically implicated in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD). To increase our understanding of the biochemical basis of depression in PD patients, we examined the levels of neuropeptide Y (NPY) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from PD patients, with or without comorbid depression, and compared them to the levels in patients with MDD. We also compared the levels of NPY and CGRP with 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), the major serotonin metabolite. Both NPY and CGRP were higher in PD patients with comorbid depression compared to MDD patients. No similar difference was found in 5-HIAA levels. Accordingly, there were no correlations between NPY and 5-HIAA or CGRP and 5-HIAA levels. The finding of higher NPY and CGRP CSF levels in PD patients with MDD raises the possibility that different pathophysiological processes may underlie depression in PD and MDD.
Introduction. The aim of this prospective study was to investigate excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) over time and in relation to other PD symptoms among people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). ...Methods. Thirty participants younger than 65 years with PD were randomly selected. At inclusion, mean (SD) disease duration was 6.2 (4.8) years and median (min-max) severity of PD was classified as stage II (stages I–III) according to Hoehn and Yahr. Participants were followed annually for 10 years with clinical assessments of their PD status, medications, comorbidities, and a standardized interview about their sleep habits and occurrence of daytime sleepiness. EDS was assessed by the self-reported Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). Seventeen participants completed the 10-year longitudinal follow-up. Results. Fifteen of 30 persons were classified to suffer from EDS (ESS > 10) at baseline. At the group level, EDS remained stable over 10 years and did not deteriorate in parallel with worsening of motor symptoms. Furthermore, EDS was associated with sleep quality, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and axial/postural/gait impairments. Conclusions. EDS did not worsen over 10 years, although other PD aspects did. EDS in PD seems to be a complex nonmotor symptom that is unrelated to deterioration of motor symptoms in PD.
Two studies comparing intraduodenal infusion of a levodopa/carbidopa gel with oral treatments in advanced PD patients demonstrated improvement in UPDRS scores and in frequent clinical ratings on a ...global treatment response scale. Further analysis of data from these studies was performed to find predictive factors related to degree of improvement with infusion. Pearson's correlation coefficients between measures of improvement and baseline variables were calculated. Using data from one study, a prediction model was designed and was then evaluated using the other study's data. Correlations were found indicating that patients with more severe symptoms at baseline were most improved after infusion.
In a double-blind, cross-over multicentre trial, the prophylactic antimigraine effect of the beta 1-selective beta-blocker metoprolol was evaluated and compared with that of the non-selective ...beta-blocker propranolol. Metoprolol was used in a dosage of 50 mg b.i.d. and propranolol in 40 mg b.i.d. 56 patients with classical or common migraine were included in the double-blind part of the investigation. 3 patients withdrew, but none because of side-effects. The data suggest that metoprolol is clinically equivalent in effectiveness to propranolol in migraine prophylaxis regarding parameters such as attack frequency, improvement in sum of severity score and subjective evaluation. Both drugs were generally well tolerated and the number of reported side-effects was similar to those reported during the run-in period (placebo).
The aim of this study was to investigate if a telemetry test battery can be used to measure effects of Parkinson's disease (PD) treatment intervention and disease progression in patients with ...fluctuations. Sixty-five patients diagnosed with advanced PD were recruited in an open longitudinal 36-month study; 35 treated with levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG) and 30 were candidates for switching from oral PD treatment to LCIG. They utilized a test battery, consisting of self-assessments of symptoms and fine motor tests (tapping and spiral drawings), four times per day in their homes during week-long test periods. The repeated measurements were summarized into an overall test score (OTS) to represent the global condition of the patient during a test period. Clinical assessments included ratings on unified PD rating scale (UPDRS) and 39-item PD questionnaire (PDQ-39) scales. In LCIG-naïve patients, the mean OTS compared to baseline was significantly improved from the first test period on LCIG treatment until month 24. In LCIG-nonnaïve patients, there were no significant changes in the mean OTS until month 36. The OTS correlated adequately with total UPDRS (rho = 0.59) and total PDQ-39 (0.59). Responsiveness measured as effect size was 0.696 and 0.536 for OTS and UPDRS, respectively. The trends of the test scores were similar to the trends of clinical rating scores but the dropout rate was high. Correlations between OTS and clinical rating scales were adequate indicating that the test battery contains important elements of the information of well-established scales. The responsiveness and reproducibility were better for OTS than for total UPDRS.
The biochemical basis of major depression (MD) in Parkinson’s disease (PD) is largely unknown. To increase our understanding of MD in PD patients, the levels of monoamine metabolites (HVA, 5-HIAA and ...MHPG), BDNF, orexin-A, IL-6 and corticosterone were examined in cerebrospinal fluid. The analyses were performed in MD patients with (
n
= 11) and without (
n
= 12) PD at baseline and after 12 weeks’ of treatment with the antidepressant citalopram, and in patients with solely PD (
n
= 14) at baseline and after 12 weeks. The major findings were that PD patients with MD had significantly lower baseline levels of MHPG, corticosterone and IL-6 when compared to patients with solely MD. In response to citalopram treatment, patients with solely MD exhibited an expected decrease in 5-HIAA and MHPG levels which was not found in PD patients with MD. Moreover, the levels of BDNF and IL-6 were lower in PD patients with MD compared with patients with solely MD after treatment with citalopram. Thus, the biochemical basis and the response to citalopram differ between PD patients with MD and patients with solely MD.
Common disability scales in multiple sclerosis (MS) are often weighted towards physical disability. Non-motor symptoms such as depression, fatigue and pain substantially influence wellbeing in MS. ...Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) measures the broader impact of MS and might indicate less obvious disease burdens. We analysed HRQoL, using the Nottingham Health Profile Part I (NHP-I), among 345 secondary progressive MS (SPMS) patients participating in a randomized trial of interferon-β1a (IFN-β1a), 22 μg subcutaneously weekly, or matching placebo. The results did not reveal any beneficial effect of IFN-β1a in any outcome measure. NHP-I sub- and sum scores were compared for 217 population controls and correlated with demographic and clinical disease variables. SPMS patients had lower NHP-I sum and all subscores than the controls. Patients experiencing disease progression reported worse NHP-I sum scores. Increased fatigue, Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) and Arm Index scores were independently associated with reduction in several NHP-I subscores. SPMS patients had significantly lower HRQoL than controls and physical disability (EDSS and Arm Index), disease progression and fatigue strongly influenced this. MS
Abstract Background Continuous infusion of levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG) can effectively manage motor and non-motor complications in advanced Parkinson’s disease (PD). Healthcare costs, ...quality of life (QoL), effectiveness, and tolerability were assessed in routine care treatment with LCIG. Methods The seventy-seven patients enrolled in this prospective, open-label, 3-year study in routine medical care were LCIG-naïve (N = 37), or had previous LCIG treatment for <2 (N = 22), or ≥2 (N = 18) years. Healthcare costs were collected monthly. PD symptoms and QoL were assessed with the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), 39-item Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39), and EuroQoL 5-Dimension Visual Analog Scale (EQ-5D VAS); LCIG dose, safety, and tolerability were monitored. Results Mean monthly costs per patient (€8226 ± 5952) were similar across cohorts, remained steady during 3-year follow-up, and increased with PD severity and QoL impairment. In LCIG-naïve patients, significant improvements compared to baseline were observed on the UPDRS total score and PDQ-39 summary index score through 18 months (n = 24; UPDRS, p = 0.033; PDQ-39, p = 0.049). Symptom control was maintained during 3-year follow-up in LCIG-experienced cohorts. Small changes in mean daily LCIG dose were observed. Adverse events were common and generally related to the device, procedure, levodopa, or laboratory evaluations. Conclusions Costs in LCIG-treated patients were stable over 3 years. LCIG treatment led to significant improvements in motor function and QoL over 18 months in LCIG-naïve patients and no worsening was observed in LCIG-experienced patients over 3 years despite natural PD progression over time. The long-term safety was consistent with the established LCIG profile.
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