Objective: To assess the effectiveness of digital health interventions (DHIs) in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and report on their reach, uptake, and feasibility.

Background: DHIs are technology-driven tools for physical rehabilitation and disease care. With emerging evidence on the efficacy of specific DHIs in PD, a systematic synthesis of their efficacy across PD symptoms is urgently warranted.

Method: We searched PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and APA PsycInfo from inception to January 2025 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Primary outcomes included motor symptoms, cognitive function, psychiatric symptoms, overall non-motor symptoms, and quality of life. Secondary outcomes were percentage reach, uptake, dropout rate, and feasibility. Random-effects models were used to calculate effect sizes as standardized mean differences between groups at baseline and follow-up assessments. Heterogeneity between studies was assessed using the I² statistic. The risk of bias in included studies was evaluated with the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials.

Results: We included 101 RCTs (5,095 patients) in the systematic review and 90 RCTs (4,102 patients) in the meta-analysis. DHIs significantly improved motor symptoms (Figure 1), cognitive function (Figure 2), psychiatric symptoms (Figure 3), and non-motor symptoms (Figure 4), but exhibited no significant improvement in quality of life (Figure 5) at post-intervention assessment. The improvements in motor symptoms, cognitive function, and psychiatric symptoms remained stable at follow-up assessments. Results revealed significant heterogeneity. Meta-regression analysis indicated that age and percentage of females were significant sources of heterogeneity, with older age associated with more beneficial effects on motor symptoms, and a higher percentage of females associated with less favorable effects on psychiatric symptoms.

Conclusion: DHIs were associated with improvements in motor symptoms, cognitive function, non-motor symptoms, and psychiatric symptoms, but not in quality of life for patients with PD. These conclusions should be interpreted cautiously due to substantial heterogeneity.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/digital-health-interventions-for-parkinsons-disease-a-systematic-review-and-meta-analysis-of-randomized-controlled-trials/