Global Kinetics Announces Pioneering Parkinson’s Study Publication in Nature
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Improved Quality of Life and Clinical Outcomes in 43% of Parkinson’s Disease Patients Following the Use of Targets and Objective Measurements by the Personal KinetiGraph™
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. and MELBOURNE, Australia, April 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Kinetics Corporation Ltd. today announced the publication of a study evaluating the clinical utility of objective treatment targets derived from its wearable FDA-cleared technology, the Personal KinetiGraph™ (PKG™) smart watch, in the treatment and management of Parkinson’s disease (PD). As the most prevalent movement disorder worldwide, PD currently evades effective symptom management with available therapies due to the lack of objective measurement tools. This study, published online in Nature’s npj Parkinson’s Disease on April 3, 2018, was the first of its kind to provide physicians with objective and continuous information to help calibrate their treatment recommendations (www.nature.com/articles/s41531-018-0046-4).
Dr. Frank Nicklason, Geriatrician, Royal Hobart Hospital, and an author on the study report, commented, “I find the PKG valuable in my clinical practice as my patients are not always able to define their response to their Parkinson’s medication. The PKG record helps me adjust therapy to get better control of symptoms and improved quality of life for my patients. It really helps me manage my Northern Tasmanian patients who I am not able to see as frequently.”
Unlike contemporary management for many other chronic diseases, PD has remained a “targetless” disease since it was first characterized more than 200 years ago. Currently, there are no validated continuous objective metrics for assessing or managing PD that can help physicians triage patients and calibrate treatment recommendations in the same way that blood sugar levels, peak flow measures or blood pressure readings are used to manage other common chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma and heart disease.
Professor Malcolm Horne, Movement Disorder Specialist, Global Kinetics Founder, and an author on the study report, said, “This study provides evidence that objective measurement and targets can improve outcome for people with Parkinson’s Disease in Australia and worldwide. Many specialist clinicians around the world are now using the PKG to guide their treatment of people with Parkinson’s. Introducing PKG targets may, in time, enable other clinicians and nurses to treat people with Parkinson’s disease through the eyes of objective measurement.”
The study reported in npj Parkinson’s Disease demonstrates that the use of objective targets and measurement with the PKG™ system significantly improved clinical care and quality of life for people with PD. For the first time, this study provides physicians with objective and continuous information to help physicians calibrate their treatment recommendations in a timely method. The study included 103 PD patients from the Northern part of Tasmania, Australia. This population was chosen because it is representative of patients across the spectrum of PD symptoms around the world with low levels of access to specialist care.
Key findings of the study include:
- Most people with PD (78%) are living with excessive symptoms that are considered out of target, including high levels of bradykinesia (slowness and freezing), dyskinesia (involuntary movements) and tremor (constant shaking).
- With the use of targets and objective measurements reported with the PKG™ system, treatment options were improved in more than half (58%) of the 77 participants who completed the study.
- A number of people enrolled in the study (25%), mostly patients with more severe PD, were hospitalised, unable to travel or otherwise unable to complete the study.
- After considering the PKG™ and targets, device assisted therapies, such as Deep Brain Stimulation or infusional therapies, were recommended for 19% of patients completing the study:
- Device assisted therapies were unlikely to have been considered in most of these cases.
- Most significantly, targets and PKG monitoring led to changes in oral medication, which improved quality of life and clinical outcomes of 43% of patients who completed the study (33 patients):
- 10-point improvement in quality of life as assessed by the PD Questionnaire (PDQ-39) (p<0.08).
- 8-point improvement in clinical symptoms as measured by Total UPDRS clinical scales (p<0.0009).
John Schellhorn, CEO Global Kinetics Corporation, said, “To date, Global Kinetics has supported clinical decisions for doctors who treat patients with Parkinson’s disease across 17 countries with more than 3,000,000 hours of clinical data from our FDA-cleared, CE-marked PKG™ wearable device. This study provides the foundation for a new era in the treatment and management of Parkinson’s, one in which targetless management is replaced by objective and continuous targets and measurement that can improve the care and outcomes for every person with Parkinson’s.”
About Global Kinetics Corporation Ltd.
Global Kinetics Corporation Ltd. is committed to improving the lives of those with Parkinson’s disease with advanced medical technologies. The company was formed in 2007 to commercialise its lead product, the Personal KinetiGraph™ (PKG™), also known as the Parkinson’s KinetiGraph™ outside the USA. Developed in conjunction with the world-renowned Florey Institute of Neuroscience & Mental Health in Melbourne, Australia, the Personal KinetiGraph™ enables the precise monitoring, quantification and reporting of movement symptoms in Parkinson’s. Global Kinetics Corporation, a privately held company, is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia with offices in London UK, Minneapolis and Portsmouth, NH USA.
For more information, visit: www.globalkineticscorporation.com
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