Objective: To assess the feasibility, efficiency and satisfaction of a self-rehabilitation program in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients through connected insoles.

Background: Physical activity (PA) is a cornerstone of the management of PD. During the Covid19 pandemic, most of the patients did not have access to rehabilitation. Remote digital solutions could be an approach to encourage PD patients to practice PA and remain to be mobile.

Method: A one-month program of self-rehabilitation, consisting of 4 sessions per week, using connected insoles was provided to PD patients for whom a lack of adapted PA was considered harmful. Patients were supplied with an integrated sensor insole system in combination with a smartphone application. The insole system measures spatiotemporal gait and plantar pressure data and provides real-time feedback of gait functions. An adapted physical activity specialist developed a patient-focused training program and supervised the patients remotely. Regular phone calls were performed to check the patients’ motivation, difficulties with the exercises or with the device. Depending on the patients’ performance, the program was personalized.

Results: In this pilot study, 13 patients were included (mean ± standard deviation; age: 65.1±9.4 years old; female/male: 5/9; disease duration 5.7±1.9 years; MOCA score 25.4±3.77. There was no drop-out. 12 patients were satisfied with their rehabilitation objective, training needs and adaptation to their performances using the insole solution. 1 patient thought preferable to have physiotherapist sessions. The mean weekly training duration and effective session duration are 102.7 min and 25.5 min, respectively. 85.3% of patients were compliant (total practice time/ theoretical practice time). One patient experienced a medical condition preventing him to fulfil all training needs, another one had organizational problems. Initial efficacy data provided evidence for improving key parameters of gait including walking speed.

Conclusion: Connected insoles can be a useful tool to help PD patients who suffer from limited access to rehabilitation to maintain PA. The technology-based training program was well accepted and easy to use. More data are needed to demonstrate the efficacy of the solution for longer-term application and its potential beneficial impact on mobility and motor complications.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/self-rehabilitation-with-connected-insoles-in-parkinsons-disease-results-of-a-pilot-study/