Impact of disclosure of individual imaging results in a multi-center Parkinson clinical trial

Abstract

Background: Little is known about the impact of providing individual research results to clinical trial participants or the impact of sharing such data.

Objective: The objective of this follow-up study was to evaluate the desire of participants for learning their imaging results and the impact of this information on their perception of their PD diagnosis and care.

Methods: The Parkinson Research Examination of CEP-1347 Trial (PRECEPT) evaluated the experimental treatment CEP-1347 obtaining dopamine transporter imaging at baseline and 22 months as a secondary outcome. Dopamine transporter imaging and results were categorized as 'dopamine transporter deficit', 'no dopamine transporter deficit' or 'indeterminate.' Self-administered surveys were provided on three occasions to subjects who chose to learn their dopamine transporter imaging results: prior to receiving imaging data, immediately following receipt of imaging information, and three months following image disclosure.

Results: 656/777 subjects (84.4%) consented to receive their individual imaging data, comprising overall result categories of 86.3% 'dopamine transporter deficit', 10.4% 'no dopamine transporter deficit', and 3.4% 'indeterminate.' 99.6% of subjects believed their decision to receive data was correct. Following disclosure of imaging results, 97% of the 'dopamine transporter deficit' and 'indeterminate' subjects believed they had Parkinson disease compared with 34% of 'no dopamine transporter deficit' subjects. About 45% of participants reported that learning individual imaging data resulted in improved understanding of their diagnosis.

Conclusion: The majority of research participants chose to learn their individual dopamine transporter imaging results and were satisfied with their decision. Disclosure of imaging information resulted in improved understanding of parkinsonian symptoms in nearly half of subjects, and less belief among 'no dopamine transporter deficit' subjects that they had a diagnosis of Parkinson disease.

Keywords: Dopamine transporter; Parkinson's disease; single photo emission-computed tomography.