Objective: The Wearable Assessments in the Clinic and at Home in PD (WATCH-PD) study is an observational, longitudinal study in early PD looking at disease progression while using a variety of digital health technologies (DHTs). Specifically, we assessed participants’ general device proficiency at baseline as well as the overall acceptability of DHTs used as part of the study.

Background: The infrequent, variable nature of clinical assessments drives the need for large sample sizes and extended trial durations. Digital technologies have the potential to alleviate these challenges through more objective and frequent assessments of motor and non-motor function. However, it is important to understand device literacy in the general population and within patient populations who may be asked to use DHTs for extended periods of time.

Method: Individuals with early PD (≤ 2 years since diagnosis, Hoehn & Yahr ≤ II) and age-matched controls participated in the study.  At baseline, participants completed an abridged version of the MDPQ focused on a subscale of Mobile Device Basics. At baseline, Months 1, 6, and end of study (month 12), participants were asked to complete a questionnaire with items related to their experiences with the DHTs used in this study, including comfort, ease of use, and burden

Results: We enrolled 132 individuals (82 PD and 50 control) across 17 sites between July 2019 and December 2021. The mean MDPQ score did not significantly differ between PD patients and healthy controls (20.6 [2.91] vs 21.5 [2.94], p=.10). Questionnaire results  demonstrated that all participants had generally positive views on the comfort and use of the digital technologies in this study. Consistently, over the 12-month study duration, within both cohorts over 90% found the comfort of wearing the Opals, iPhone, and Apple Watch either very acceptable or acceptable.

Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate patient feedback and impressions of using technology in a longitudinal observational study in early Parkinson’s Disease. Our results demonstrated that the acceptability of various DHTs does not differ from that of neurologically healthy older adults, and overall participants had a favorable view of the DHTs deployed in the WATCH-PD study.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/acceptability-of-digital-health-technologies-in-early-parkinsons-disease/