Abstract
BACKGROUND: Many countries have implemented drastic measures to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Restrictions and diversion of resources may have negatively affected patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Our aim was to examine whether COVID-19 had an impact on access to PD medication by region and income. METHODS: This study was conducted as part of a survey sent to members of the Movement Disorders Society focusing on access to PD medication globally. RESULTS: Of 346 responses, 157 (45.4%) agreed that COVID-19 had affected access to PD medication, while 189 (54.6%) disagreed. 22.8% of high-income and 88.9% of low-income countries' respondents agreed that access to PD medication was affected by COVID-19. 59% of all ‘yes' respondents reported increased disability of patients as an impact. CONCLUSIONS: Access to PD medication is likely to have been affected by COVID-19 and result in deterioration of patients' symptomatic control. Resource-poor countries appear to be disproportionately affected compared to more affluent countries.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Movement Disorders |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| Pages (from-to) | 2129-2133 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| ISSN | 0885-3185 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 28.08.2020 |
Funding
The Preventive Neurology Unit is funded by the Barts Charity. Drs Cheong and Goh report no financial disclosures. Dr Marras has received research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Michael J Fox Foundation, the Parkinson's Foundation (US) and Theravance. She receives consulting fees from Grey Matter Technologies. Dr Tanner reports grants from Michael J Fox Foundation, Parkinson Foundation, Gateway LLC, Roche/Genentech, Biogen, Parkinson Study Group, NIH/NIA, NIH/NINDS, VA Merit, Dept of Defense. Personal fees from Biogen Idec, Acorda, Adamas Therapeutics, Amneal, CNS Ratings, Grey Matter LLC, Northwestern University, Guidemark Heallth, Acadia, Neurocrine, Lundbeck, Cadenand Partners, and Harvard U. Non‐financial support from Medtronic, Acadia, Boston Scientific, Neurocrine, Biogen Idec, outside the submitted work. Dr Kasten reports grants from the German Research Foundation. Dr Noyce reports grants from the Barts Charity, Parkinson's UK, Aligning Science Across Parkinson's and Michael J Fox Foundation, and the Virginia Kieley Benefaction. Personal fees/honoraria from Britannia, BIAL, AbbVie, Global Kinetics Corporation, Profile, Biogen, Roche and UCB, outside of the submitted work.
Research Areas and Centers
- Academic Focus: Center for Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM)
Coronavirus related work
- Research on SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19
