Prospective study on cost-effectiveness of home-based motor assessment in Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

Introduction Treatment adjustments in Parkinson’s disease (PD) are in part dependent on motor assessments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of home-based motor monitoring plus standard in-office visits versus in-office visits alone in patients with advanced PD. Methods The procedures consisted of a prospective, one-year follow-up, randomized, case-control study. A total of 40 patients with advanced PD were randomized into two groups: 20 patients underwent home-based motor monitoring by using wireless motion sensor technology, while the other 20 patients had in-office visits. Motor and non-motor symptom severities, quality of life, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and comorbidities were assessed every four months. Direct costs were assessed using a standardized questionnaire. Cost-effectiveness was assessed using the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). Results Both groups of PD patients were largely comparable in their clinical and demographic variables at baseline; however, there were more participants using levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel in the home-based motor monitoring group. There was a trend for lower Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale functional status (UPDRS II) scores in the patients monitored at home compared to the standard clinical follow-up ( p = 0.06). However, UPDRS parts I, III, IV and quality-adjusted life-years scores were similar between both groups. Home-based motor monitoring was cost-effective in terms of improvement of functional status, motor severity, and motor complications (UPDRS II, III; IV subscales), with an ICER/UPDRS ranging from €126.72 to €701.31, respectively. Discussion Home-based motor monitoring is a tool which collects cost-effective clinical information and helps augment health care for patients with advanced PD.