Parkinson's Disease and Wearable Technology: An Indian Perspective

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder. In India, an accurate number of PD patients remains uncertain owing to the unawareness of PD symptoms in the geriatric population and the large discrepancy between the number of PD patients and trained neurologists. Constructing additional neurological care centers along with using technology and integrating it into digital healthcare platforms will help reduce this burden. Use of technology in PD diagnosis and monitoring started in 1980s with invasive techniques performed in laboratories. Over the last five decades, PD technology has significantly evolved where now patients can track symptoms using their smartphones or wearable sensors. However, the use of such technology within the Indian population is non-existent primarily due to the cost of digital devices and limited technological capabilities of geriatric patients especially in rural areas. Other reasons include secure data transfers from patients to physicians and the general lack of awareness of wearables devices. Thus, creating a simple, cost-effective and inconspicuous wearable device would yield the highest compliance within the Indian PD patient population. Implementation of such technology will provide neurologists with wider outreach to patients in rural locations, remote monitoring and empirical data to titrate medication.