Clinical Trials In Parkinson's Disease

SANTIAGO PEREZ-LLORET

Humana Press - Springer

Año: 2020 p. 394

978-1-0716-0912-5

Parkinson?s disease is the second most frequent neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer?sdisease. Parkinson?s disease is considered by many authors as a pandemic. Indeed, the prevalenceof this disease, and thus disability and deaths owing to it, more than doubled from1990 to 2015. The Global Burden of Disease Study estimated that 6.2 million individualshad Parkinson?s disease in 2018. The number of affected persons will likely reach 14.2 millionin 2040.Parkinson?s disease seriously affects quality of life. Indeed, the disease has a profoundand progressive impact on various neurological functions. Motor symptoms such as bradykinesia,rigidity, and tremor are the cardinal symptoms of the disease. Notwithstanding,quality of life is more affected by non-motor symptoms. Patients with Parkinson?s diseaseare frequently affected by cognitive impairment, mood disorders, autonomic disturbances,troubled sleep, and sensory symptoms. Therefore, both motor and non-motor symptomsneed to be treated in order to achieve satisfactory quality of life in patients with Parkinson?sdisease.Randomized, controlled, double-blinded clinical trials are the cornerstone of the assessmentof drugs and medical devices efficacy and safety. Randomization reduces the possibilityof selection bias, by assigning trial participants to treatments groups on a random basis.Double blind permits effective allocation concealment and reduces the risk of performance,attrition, and detection bias. Respectively, these biases occur when there are systematic differencesbetween groups in the care that is provided or in exposure to factors other than theinterventions of interest, or in withdrawals from a study, or in how outcomes aredetermined.This book reviews major clinical trials for motor and non-motor symptoms in Parkinson?sdisease and discusses their most important aspects, including study designs, sample selection,and outcome selection. Therefore, it aids clinicians and researchers to better interpretresults from clinical trials in Parkinson?s disease and to design their own high-qualitytrials.