Radhika Devraj, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Pharmacy, Edwardsville, ILFollow
Ahmad Elkouzi, Department of Neurology, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, ILFollow
Marlon R. Tracey, Department of Economics and Finance, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Business, Edwardsville, ILFollow

OFF periods; Parkinson’s disease; risk factors; demographics; associations

Purpose

OFF periods are episodes when Parkinson’s disease (PD) medications work suboptimally, with symptoms returning and impacting quality of life. We aimed to characterize OFF periods using patient-reported frequency, severity, and duration, as well as determine these characteristics’ associations with demographics.

Methods

A retrospective cohort study using Fox Insight Data Exploration Network (Fox DEN) database was conducted. Eligible patients had PD and were > 18 years. The experience of OFF periods was characterized by frequency (number of episodes/day), duration (duration/episode), and severity (impact on activities). Significance level was Bonferroni-corrected for multivariate analyses.

Results

From a population of 6,757 persons with PD, 88% were non-Hispanic Whites (mean age: 66 ± 8.8 years); 52.7% were males versus 47.3% females; mean PD duration was 5.7 ± 5.2; and 51% experienced OFF periods. Subsequent analyses were limited to non-Hispanic Whites, as they constituted a large majority of the participants and were the subgroup that had the sample size to derive reliable inferences. The analyses showed that 67% experienced 1–2 episodes/day, 90% experienced > 15-minute episodes, and 55% reported slight–mild severity/episode. Lower age was associated with a higher frequency (incidence rate ratio [IRR]: 0.992; P

Conclusions

Lower age, income

Devraj R, Elkouzi A, Tracey MR. Real-world experiences of Parkinson's disease OFF time and role of demographics. J Patient Cent Res Rev. 2024;11:8-17.

May 3rd, 2023

August 30th, 2023