Feasibility of a wearable inertial sensor to assess motor complications and treatment in Parkinson's disease

Wearable sensors-based systems have emerged as a potential tool to continuously monitor Parkinson's Disease (PD) motor features in free-living environments. To analyse the responsivity of wearable inertial sensor (WIS) measures (On/Off-Time, dyskinesia, freezing of gait (FoG) and gait parameters) after treatment adjustments. We also aim to study the ability of the sensor in the detection of MF, dyskinesia, FoG and the percentage of Off-Time, under ambulatory conditions of use. We conducted an observational, open-label study. PD patients wore a validated WIS (STAT-ONTM) for one week (before treatment), and one week, three months after therapeutic changes. The patients were analyzed into two groups according to whether treatment changes had been indicated or not. Thirty-nine PD patients were included in the study (PD duration 8 ± 3.5 years). Treatment changes were made in 29 patients (85%). When comparing the two groups (treatment intervention vs no intervention), the WIS detected significant changes in the mean percentage of Off-Time (p = 0.007), the mean percentage of On-Time (p = 0.002), the number of steps (p = 0.008) and the gait fluidity (p = 0.004). The mean percentage of Off-Time among the patients who decreased their Off-Time (79% of patients) was -7.54 ± 5.26. The mean percentage of On-Time among the patients that increased their On-Time (59% of patients) was 8.9 ± 6.46. The Spearman correlation between the mean fluidity of the stride and the UPDRS-III- Factor I was 0.6 (p =