Evaluation of Two Commercial Sensor Systems for Monitoring Parkinsonism and Their Possible Influence on Management of Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract

BACKGROUND Wearable sensors can be used to monitor motor symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease. The Parkinson’s KinetiGraph (PKG) and STAT-ON are two promising single-sensors. No previous studies have been made comparing these two, neither in terms of agreement nor in terms of usability. AIMS Compare agreement between PKG, STAT-ON, a resident physicians’ assessment, and patients’ medical records. Describe usability from the patients’ view. METHOD Ten patients recruited from Sahlgrenska University Hospital wore two sensor systems (PKG and STAT-ON) and reports were assessed for typical categories of motor symptoms. A resident physician categorized the patients in the same way after taking the patients’ history of motor symptoms and fluctuations. Agreement was evaluated with Cohen’s kappa, and usability surveys and self-assessment scales were filled out. RESULT Compared to information derived from the patients’ medical records, agreement was seen for the resident physician (kappa = 0.747, p = 0.015) and for one of two STAT-ON raters (kappa = 0.673, p = 0.023). Agreement between STAT-ON and the resident physician was significant for one of two raters (kappa = 0.783, p = 0.014). No significant agreement was seen between PKG and STAT-ON evaluations nor between PKG and the resident physician. Both sensors had a low mean rating score in the usability survey (1-5, lower better), PKG = 1.67 ± 0.56, and STAT-ON 2.01 ± 1.10. CONCLUSION The STAT-ON sensor provides information on motor symptoms that is more consistent with the resident physician than PKG. However, PKG might to a greater extent provide different information. Future studies are needed to understand the implications of this. The low mean rating score for usability indicates potentially high acceptability for sensors.