New AAN Tool Helps Measure How Well Your Doctor Cares for People With Parkinson's Disease

A new tool to help doctors gauge how well they are caring for people with Parkinson's disease has been developed by the American Academy of Neurology.

The new quality measures are published in the November 30, 2010, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Parkinson’s Disease - Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment
Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease caused by progressive dopamine brain cells loss. Symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are correctable to an extent.

"Quality measures have been developed for conditions seen by primary care doctors for years, but not for many specialty care conditions such as brain disorders," said lead quality measures author Eric M. Cheng, MD, MS, with David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. "Measuring the quality of health care is a fundamental step toward improving health care, and many quality measurement efforts are underway. The American Academy of Neurology is taking a leading role in ensuring that the quality of care for people with neurologic disorders is included in these efforts."

The Academy measures for Parkinson's disease help doctors to determine how well they are caring for nonmotor symptoms of the disease such as depression, sleep and falls. "These symptoms can be overlooked but have a great impact on a person's quality of life," Cheng said. The measures also include assessing symptoms, treatment and counseling a person on preventable complications of the disease.

"Quality measures like these will be increasingly important for extending the best care possible to people with neurologic disorders like Parkinson's disease," said Cheng.

Parkinson's Disease
Slide animation on Parkinson disease. It is a progressive movement disorder due to degeneration of nerve cells of the substantia nigra of the brain. The symptoms get worse with time but drugs or surgery can control them. PD cannot be cured.

The AAN is working on developing similar measures in epilepsy, stroke, dementia, neuropathy, headache and multiple sclerosis.

It is estimated that about one million people in the United States have Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's Disease - Surgical Treatment
Slide animation on surgery for Parkinson disease. Surgery is only indicated where drugs fail to control the symptoms of this progressive movement disorder. Surgery cannot cure the disease.

Source-Eurekalert