Objective: To evaluate the feasibility, usability, and clinical value of a pre-clinic questionnaire for patients attending Parkinson’s disease nurse specialist clinics.

Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a complex multisystem disorder requiring comprehensive assessment of motor symptoms, non-motor symptoms, and broader safety and lifestyle factors. However, routine outpatient consultations often fail to capture important information such as medication adherence, falls risk, driving status and allied health engagement. This can lead to incomplete clinical assessments and inefficiencies during consultations. A standardised pre-clinic questionnaire (PCQ) was developed to support more structured and patient-centred consultations.

Method: A prospective multi-centre pilot study was conducted across three UK PD nurse specialist clinics over a 3-month period. Patients completed the PCQ in the clinic waiting area prior to consultation. The questionnaire captured information on motor symptoms, non-motor symptoms, medication adherence, lifestyle factors, falls, allied health use and interest in research participation. Patients subsequently completed a satisfaction survey evaluating ease of use, perceived value and overall experience.

Results: Seventy-seven patients completed the PCQ. Motor symptoms were common, with bradykinesia reported by 50% and rigidity by 45% of participants. Non-motor symptoms were highly prevalent, including apathy and pain (34% each), nocturia (32%) and sleep disturbance (30%). Despite 95% of participants taking levodopa, only 53% reported taking it on an empty stomach and 58% reported consistent daily timing. Falls were reported by 24% of patients, though only 8 had undergone bone density scanning. Feedback demonstrated good usability, with 71% reporting that questions were easy to understand and 60% expressing overall satisfaction with the questionnaire. Half recommended continued use of the tool in future consultations.

Conclusion: The PCQ is a feasible and acceptable approach to improve structured information capture in PD clinics. The PCQ identified gaps in medication adherence, non-motor symptom burden and preventive health measures, while supporting patients to prioritise issues for discussion. A larger multicentre study is currently underway with a refined version of the PCQ having encoporated the feedback.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/implementation-and-evaluation-of-a-pre-clinic-questionnaire-to-improve-data-capture-and-consultation-efficiency-in-parkinsons-disease-clinics-a-multi-centre-pilot-study/