Two groups of participants will be recruited. Group 1 will be patients newly referred to
the Movement Disorders clinic for evaluation of possible Parkinson's disease. Group 2
will be patients with a recent (within 6 months) diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.
Group 1 (Newly Referred) will attend a baseline visit where the following data will be
collected:
Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). The motor assessment tasks will be
recorded using an iPad.
Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).
Cognitive function assessment using NIH Toolbox.
Diagnosis made at the Movement Disorders Clinic (PD or not PD).
SF-20 quality of life assessment. (Short Form 20)
PDQ-39 quality-of-life assessment. (Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire 39)
Tongue and lip strength using the Iowa Oral Pressure Instrument.
Cognitive function assessment using NIH Toolbox.
Audio recordings of:
Diadochokinesis (DDK) assessment.
Vowel prolongation assessment.
Sentence Intelligibility Test.
Reading the Grandfather, Bamboo, and Rainbow passages.
Recording of conversational speech.
Participants will be provided with an activity tracker and a research team member will
help install any required apps on the participant's phone, configure and connect the
activity tracker, provide a basic overview of how the app and tracker work, and answer
any additional questions the participant may have.
The participant will then wear the activity tracker at home for 4 weeks. Text messages
reminders will be sent following days with non-wear (no recorded heart rate or steps for
multiple hours throughout the day) as a reminder to increase wear time.
At 4 weeks, the participant will complete a video visit using Microsoft Teams/Zoom with a
study team member and the study participant. During the video visit, a recording of three
different fine-motor skill tasks used in the UPDRS will be made. During the call, the
study team member will provide coaching and direct the participant to repeat the audio
and UPDRS fine motor task assessment at home while recording the video visit. At the end
of the video visit, research team member will also collect questions about the ease and
willingness to use the activity tracker and video call for disease monitoring and any
open-ended comments the participant wishes to provide. This concludes the participants
involvement in the study.
Group 2 (Recently Diagnosed) will attend a baseline visit where the following data will
be collected:
Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). The motor assessment tasks will be
recorded using an iPad.
Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).
Cognitive function assessment using NIH Toolbox.
Diagnosis made at the Movement Disorders Clinic (PD or not PD).
SF-20 quality of life assessment.
PDQ-39 quality-of-life assessment.
Tongue and lip strength using the Iowa Oral Pressure Instrument.
Cognitive function assessment using NIH Toolbox.
Audio recordings of:
Diadochokinesis (DDK) assessment.
Vowel prolongation assessment.
Sentence Intelligibility Test.
Reading the Grandfather, Bamboo, and Rainbow passages.
Recording of conversational speech.
Participants will be provided with an activity tracker and a research team member will
help install any required apps on the participant's phone, configure and connect the
activity tracker, provide a basic overview of how the app and tracker work, and answer
any additional questions the participant may have.
The participant will then wear the activity tracker at home for 4 weeks. Text messages
reminders will be sent following days with non-wear (no recorded heart rate or steps for
multiple hours throughout the day) as a reminder to increase wear time.
At 4 weeks, the participant will complete a video visit using Microsoft Teams/Zoom with a
study team member and the study participant. During the video visit, a recording of three
different fine-motor skill tasks used in the UPDRS will be made. During the call, the
study team member will provide coaching and direct the participant to repeat the audio
and UPDRS fine motor task assessment at home while recording the video visit. At the end
of the video visit, research team member will also collect questions about the ease and
willingness to use the activity tracker and video call for disease monitoring and any
open-ended comments the participant wishes to provide.
At 11 months, the participant will be contacted to schedule a one-year research visit.
Many patients return on 3-6 month intervals to the UIHC Movement Disorders Clinic and the
research visit will ideally coordinate the participants routine visit for care.
At the one-year encounter, which will be an in-person research visit, the following data
elements will be collected:
Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS).
Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).
Cognitive function assessment using NIH Toolbox.
SF-20.
PDQ-39 quality-of-life assessment.
Additionally, the research team will solicit any open-ended feedback the participant
wants to share with the study team about their experience being in the study.