Capturing Initial Understanding and Impressions of Surgical Therapy for Parkinson's Disease

Authors

Somnath Das, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Caio Matias, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Sunihidi Ramesh, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Lohit Velagapudi, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Julie Barbera, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Samantha Katz, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Michael Baldassari, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Mohammad Rasool, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Daniel Kremens, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Jeffrey Ratliff, MD, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Tsao-Wei Liang, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Chengyuan Wu, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-4-2021

Comments

This article is the author’s final published version in Frontiers in Neurology, Volume 12, March 2021, Article number 605959.

The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2021.605959. Copyright © Das et al.

Publication made possible in part by support from the Jefferson Open Access Fund

Abstract

Background: Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is an underutilized surgical therapy for Parkinson's Disease (PD). Both physician and patient hesitancies have been described as potential barriers to DBS, but the specifics of patient perceptions of DBS have not been well-characterized in the general PD population. Objective: To characterize the understanding and impressions of surgical therapy in PD patients prior to formal surgical evaluation. Methods: A 30-question survey assessing impressions of surgical therapy for PD and understanding of DBS for PD was administered to PD patients seen at an urban movement disorders clinic. Results: One hundred and two patients completed the survey. When asked if they would undergo a hypothetical risk-free, curative brain surgery for PD, 98 patients responded “yes.” Patients were more agreeable to “reversible,” “minimally-invasive,” and “incisionless” surgery. 51.2% thought DBS is an “effective” treatment for PD, 76.6% thought it was “invasive,” and 18.3% thought it was “reversible.” 45.2% reported fear of being awake during DBS surgery. Regarding costs, 52.4% were concerned that DBS was “very expensive” or “not covered by insurance.” Initial source of information and perceived treatment effectiveness were not associated with concerns about DBS effectiveness or threats to normality. Negative perceptions of past surgery were associated with concerns about DBS altering mood and personality. Conclusion: Overall, patients expressed concerns regarding procedural efficacy, invasiveness, cost, and irreversibility—independent of the original source of information. Future studies are required to allow us to better understand the impact of these initial findings on DBS hesitancy and underutilization.

Recommended Citation

Das, Somnath; Matias, Caio; Ramesh, Sunihidi; Velagapudi, Lohit; Barbera, Julie; Katz, Samantha; Baldassari, Michael; Rasool, Mohammad; Kremens, Daniel; Ratliff, MD, Jeffrey; Liang, Tsao-Wei; and Wu, Chengyuan, "Capturing Initial Understanding and Impressions of Surgical Therapy for Parkinson's Disease" (2021). Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers. Paper 147.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/neurosurgeryfp/147

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

PubMed ID

33746873

Language

English