Objective: To showcase a day in the life of a person with Parkinson’s disease (PD) using four multimodal digital technologies.

Background: Assessments of PD are often subjective and limited to clinic visits. Digital health technologies provide frequent, objective, and sensitive data collection in real-world settings and in real time.

Method: Participants with PD and controls used four digital technologies during a 24-month observational period. All participants used a video analytics tool at baseline and months 6, 12, and 24 visits that captured motor, speech, and facial expression features. Participants also chose from three optional technologies that capture motor, autonomic, sleep, and social data: a smartphone app, wearable sensors, and an in-home monitoring system. Smartphone application tasks were completed for two week sessions, quarterly. Wearable sensors were worn during daytime hours for 6 days, and for 24 hours on day 7. The passive in-home monitoring system continuously gathered data for the duration of study participation.

Results: One person with PD (female, 63) and one control (female, 57) using all technologies were randomly selected as a sample of this cohort. At baseline the video analytics tool showed the person with PD raised their inner brow with greater intensity [0.18(sd=0.25) vs. 0.12(0.15)] and raised their cheek with less intensity [0.03(0.07) vs. 0.92(0.72)] than the control when smiling. The person with PD completed fewer finger taps than the control [123(23) vs. 243(35) taps] as revealed by the smartphone application. Wearable sensors indicated the person with PD took less steps per day [4257(1941) vs. 6713(3711) steps], had a longer step duration [0.66(0.05) vs. 0.57(0.05) seconds] spent more time lying down [2.4(2.7) vs. 1.5(3.7) hours], spent less time walking [1.18(0.48) vs. 1.39(0.73) hours], and turned more in bed while sleeping [140 vs. 35 turns] during the week of sensor wear. The in-home monitoring device showed the person with PD spent less time in bed than the control [6.68(0.45) vs. 9.15(1.05) hours].

Conclusion: These technologies provide a well-rounded characterization of PD across multiple domains. Preliminary results demonstrate the feasibility of using digital health tools to capture a week in the life of a person living with PD, and demonstrate differences in digital measures between those with PD and non-affected controls.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/a-week-in-the-life-with-parkinsons-disease-a-holistic-overview-from-four-digital-technologies/