WHAT BOTHERED PATIENTS WITH PARKINSON DISEASE DURING THE COVID-19 LOCKDOWN? AN ANALYSIS OF TELEPHONE RECORDS

ABSTRACT

Introduction: It has been suggested that patients with Parkinson's disease are more susceptible to the negative consequences of restrictions for Coronavirus pandemic regulations. We evaluated whether the lockdown caused a change in the subjective complaints of the Parkinson's disease patients. Material and Methods: Telephone records of the Parkinson's disease patients in the 2.5 months of the lockdown in 2020 were categorized and compared to the records of the same period of 2018 and 2019. Results: In total, 666 complaints/questions were categorized from 625 telephone calls of 391 patients. The percentage of motor-related complaints did not differ significantly across the years. In 2020, calls about administrative issues increased significantly compared to 2018 (OR= 3.7 95% CI1.5-9.3;p= 0.004) and 2019 (OR= 2.1, 95% CI1.0-4.5;p= 0.044). Moreover in 2020, the odds of calling due to behavioral/psychotic symptoms increased by at least 3 times compared to 2018 (OR=3.7, 95% CI1.3-10.8 p= 0.014) and 2019 (OR=3.0, 95% CI1.2-7.4 p= 0.018). Anxiety was also more frequent but only compared to 2019. Conclusions: The results highlight the necessity of taking urgent action to improve the organizational and psychosocial needs of Parkinson's disease patients in times of humanitarian crises.