Objective: To assess whether multidisciplinary care following the time of nursing home placement for patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) can maintain their activities of daily living (ADL) and quality of life (QOL).
Background: Nursing home placement has been regarded as a “milestone” in late-stage PD, associated with functional decline and poor prognosis (Kempster PA et al., Brain. 2010). However, advances in medical care have prolonged survival, resulting in a growing number of PD patients requiring long-term care. Simultaneously, the reduction in available caregivers has further increased the need for institutional care (Pringsheim T et al., Mov Disord. 2014; MHLW, Report on Public Health Administration and Services 2022 (Japan)). Despite this growing “post-milestone” population, prospective studies examining outcomes after nursing home placement remain limited.
Method: Twenty-one residents of a PD-specialized care facility were prospectively followed for 9 months. ADL and QOL, as well as motor and cognitive functions, were evaluated using the MDS-UPDRS Parts I–IV, MMSE, and PDQ-8. Daily physical activity was assessed using a wrist-worn accelerometer estimating metabolic equivalents.
Results: ADL and QOL were generally maintained over the 9-month follow-up. The The MDS-UPDRS Part II (median [IQR]) changed from 28 [12–39] to 31 [16.5–36.5], MMSE from 24 [17–26.5] to 24 [19–27], and PDQ-8 from 10 [5–17] to 9.5 [7.25–15]. Daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity measured by accelerometry was similarly preserved in the evaluable subgroup (n = 12), changing from 17.7 ± 33.5 to 13.7 ± 26.2 minutes.
Conclusion: Multidisciplinary care in a PD-specialized facility may support short-term maintenance of ADL and QOL even in patients with late-stage PD. These findings challenge the conventional perception that nursing home placement inevitably confers a poor prognosis, and highlight the potential importance of structured multidisciplinary care models for this underserved population.
Acknowledgments: We would like to thank TechDoctor Inc. for providing the digital data collection and analysis platform used in this study.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Y. Kajiyama, A. Saito, R. Satake, Y. Kutoku, K. Oku, T. Ito, M. Yoshimura, J. Hirata, F. Hyodo, N. Tsujiuchi, M. Mitsuishi, M. Kurokawa, D. Kimura, T. Yasuda, M. Mihara. Multidisciplinary Care Preserves Function and Quality of Life After Nursing Home Placement in Late-Stage Parkinson’s Disease: A Prospective Cohort Study [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2026; 41 (suppl 1). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/multidisciplinary-care-preserves-function-and-quality-of-life-after-nursing-home-placement-in-late-stage-parkinsons-disease-a-prospective-cohort-study/. Accessed October 1, 2026.« Back to 2026 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/multidisciplinary-care-preserves-function-and-quality-of-life-after-nursing-home-placement-in-late-stage-parkinsons-disease-a-prospective-cohort-study/