Objective: The purpose of the study is to assess computer use habits and difficulties of patients (pts) with Parkinson’s disease (PD). These are preliminary data for the MAMEM project (Multimedia Authoring and Management using your Eyes and Mind).

Background: Motor and non-motor symptoms of PD affect the ability to use computers. There are very few studies concerning computer use of patients with PD. Although patients consider computer use as an important part of their everyday life they face many difficulties using the keyboard and the mouse.

Methods: Thirty five PD pts with a long experience in computer operation were included in the study. Their mean age was 59.5 (SD8.27) years. Most of them were in Hoehn and Yahr stage II. PD pts uses, habits, and difficulties with the computer were explored by means of a structured interview which provided information in the form of yes/no answers to questions relevant to a wide range of usual computer uses and applications as well as difficulties in performing various tasks relevant to computer operation. Two quantitative scales one referring to the contribution of the computer in social life, every day activities, emotional well- being (total score: 9=not important/45= very important) and the other exploring the disease impact on various aspects of computer operation (total score: 11=no effect/55 maximum effect) were also employed.

Results: PD pts reported having a mean 13.9 (SD 9.8) yrs of computer experience and a mean daily use of 3.7 (2.6) hours. The most frequent computer uses were communication (80%), information (62.9%), social participation (54.3%) and everyday finances (51.4%). The most frequent computer applications used were internet browser (94.3% and e-mail (80%). Specific difficulty was reported in the following tasks: double clicking (48.6%), moving cursor (45.7%), using two keys at once (42.9%) and keyboard use (37,1%). The two quantitative scales yielded moderate mean total scores [23.2(SD 7.2) Social life contribution scale] and [25.9 (SD9.9) Disease impact on the computer operation scale].

Conclusions: Our preliminary results highlight the various aspects of computer uses and difficulties experienced by PD pts. This information is important for the development of innovating technology helping them to overcome their specific disabilities.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/computer-uses-and-difficulties-in-parkinsons-disease/