Patient-Reported Communication Decline Following Deep Brain Stimulation in Parkinson's Disease

Objective decline in communication abilities following Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) in People with Parkinson's disease (PwP) is common; however, patient perspectives remain under-investigated.

This study examined subjective change in communicative efficacy using the Communicative Participation Item Bank (CPIB) in PwP following DBS.

This study examined change in CPIB in 30 PwP following subthalamic DBS using t-tests and examined correlates with cognition.

Statistically significant declines in subjective communication efficacy were reported following DBS, t(29) = -3.19, P = 0.003. CPIB decline was not associated with baseline or change in objective language performance after DBS. CPIB decline was not related to laterality of DBS target or pre-DBS cognitive status.

Subjective communication decline is common in PwP who undergo STN-DBS, but was not associated with objective measures of language and cognition. Findings support incorporating patient-reported outcomes (eg, CPIB) into DBS evaluations to inform intervention and clarify risk factors for communication decline.