Digital phenotyping in Parkinson's disease: Empowering neurologists for measurement-based care

Abstract

There remains a significant mismatch between the complexity and variability of symptoms and disabilities in Parkinson's disease (PD), and the capabilities of existing validated assessment tools to objectively measure and monitor them. However, with the advances of circuit and sensor technologies, it is now possible to apply the concept of digital phenotyping to PD, providing a moment-by-moment quantification of individual patient phenotypes using personal digital devices, such as smartphones. Such technology holds considerable potential if a patient-centered multidisciplinary team is able to select digital outcomes that are not only clinically relevant, but also provide measurement-based care results that support individual patient clinical decision making. However, it is likely to be a long road, requiring large collaborative efforts to undertake a number of essential steps before full integration and synchronization of these outcomes into patient management platforms that can deliver individualized data to patients, caregivers, and treating neurologists. In the meantime, both neurologists and patients can empower themselves with digital technologies, working as a team to define the ways that new technologies can be most powerfully employed in PD management. Once digital phenotyping becomes feasible and widely adopted in PD communities, it is likely to expand our understanding of individual PD patients' lives and priorities, leading to targeted treatments and better outcomes for PD patients and their families.

Keywords: Accelerometer; Digital footprint; Digital phenotyping; Digital technology; Parkinson's disease; Smartphone.