The Role of Parkinson Nurses for Personalizing Care in Parkinson's Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Quality of life (QoL) of persons with Parkinson's disease (PD) is diminished by (non-)motor symptoms, that require personalized care. Parkinson Nurses (PN) may be pivotal promoting tailored care offerings. This systematic review and meta-analysis investigates PD care models and aims at furnishing current concepts of PN to offer personalized care.

The purpose of this study is to identify the various roles and functions that PN may hold for personalized PD care.

We performed a systematic literature review, utilizing: PubMed, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, and PsycINFO. The review qualitatively evaluated articles, which described personalized care models involving PNs and was guided by the personalized care management model. A meta-analysis compared patient-reported QoL (quantified using the 39-item Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire) between personalized care interventions involving PN versus standard care with.

Twenty-seven publications were identified, including six randomized, controlled trials ascertaining with health related QoL (n = 1830 PwPs). The qualitative evaluation revealed that PN contribute to all aspects of personalized care. The meta-analysis showed no improved QoL in personalized care models compared to standard care, thought a great heterogeneity among study design and interventions was outlined (Standardized Mean Difference = -0.8935; 95% Confidence Interval, -2.1177 to 0.3307; z = -1.43, p = 0.1526).

PN fulfil important functions in personalized PD care. For the future, a clear role definition will be necessary to adjust training for PN across healthcare systems and care settings but especially to realize their full potential for PD care.