Telerehabilitation in Parkinson's disease: Influence of cognitive status

The need for efficacy in voice rehabilitation in patients with Parkinson's disease is well established. Given difficulties traveling from home to treatment centers, the use of telerehabilitation may represent an invaluable tool for many patients.

To analyze the influence of cognitive performance on acceptance of telerehabilitation.

Fifty patients at stages 2-4 on the Hoehn-Yahr scale, aged 45-87 years old, with cognitive scores of19-30 on the Mini-Mental State Examination, and 4-17 years of education were enrolled. All patients were submitted to evaluation of voice intensity pre and post in-person treatment with the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) and were asked to fill out a questionnaire regarding their preferences between two options of treatment and evaluating basic technological competence.

Comparisons between pre and post-treatment values showed a mean increase of 14dBSPL in vocal intensity. When asked about potential acceptance to participate in future telerehabilitation, 38 subjects agreed to take part and 12 did not. For these two groups, 26% and 17% self-reported technological competence, respectively. Agreement to engage in remote therapy was positively associated with years of education and cognitive status.

Responses to the questionnaire submitted after completion of traditional in-person LSVT showed that the majority of patients (76%) were willing to participate in future telerehabilitation. Age, gender, disease stage and self-reported basic technological skills appeared to have no influence on the decision, whereas other factors such as cognitive status and higher school education were positively associated with acceptance of the new therapy approach.