Global Kinetics has said that its PKG smartwatch provides clinically meaningful improvement in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) symptom assessment, management and medication optimization, as well as projected per patient cost savings.
Image: Global Kinetics releases results of PKG smartwatch study. Photo: Courtesy of rawpixel/Unsplash.
The PKG device is a wearable technology that offers clinicians with a passive, continuous, objective, ambulatory assessment of the treatable and disabling symptoms of PD, including bradykinesia, dyskinesia, and tremor.
In a study which involved 27,834 deidentified PKG users worldwide between 2012 and 2018, researchers found that a significant proportion of the patients had suboptimal PD motor symptoms management, with 54% having uncontrolled but likely treatable bradykinesia and 10% demonstrating uncontrolled, likely treatable dyskinesia.
After subsequent PKG use, a significant improvement in motor symptoms was noted. This showed that the objective measurement data provided by the technology can be used to enhance clinical decision making to improve motor symptom management.
An open-label study with 28 patients at movement disorder practice found similar results. The study showed that PKG contributed to clinically meaningful improvements in symptoms assessment, overall symptoms and optimized medication use.
In addition, a health economic analysis, which was conducted for PKG usage, showed an improvement in cost savings and incremental outcomes for patients who have their medication changed following assessment with the wearable device, with the improved PD management offering projected cost savings of $1,719.42 per patient over a 12-month period.
To support this finding, a smaller study found that the use of PKG improved disease management and contributed to a projected total cost savings of $962 per patient from lower resource utilization.
Global Kinetics CEO John Schellhorn said: “In order for the Parkinson’s disease community to continue to work toward optimizing clinical care for this degenerative disease, we need to combine our efforts and collaborate on as many research initiatives as possible. We are pleased to share this data, as well as having our PKG device be used as an objective measurement tool in the clinical care setting.
“We are also excited that our PKG smartwatch is being used in multiple clinical studies conducted by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to evaluate potential new therapies.”