BACKGROUND: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive CNS disorder resulting in altered nerve cell function. Patients with PD experience cognitive and physical difficulties which negatively affect patients’ quality of life and their ability to make decisions. Shared Decision Making (SDM) through the use of patient reported outcomes (PROs) measures helps bridge the gap between patient preferences and treatment decisions.

OBJECTIVES: To conduct a systematic review to assess the use of PROs in SDM in the treatment of patients with PD

METHODS: Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), PubMed, PsycINFO and CINAHL databases were used to identify English language articles published till October 2018. The search strategy utilized search terms (alone or in combination) related to PD, SDM and PROs. Review articles, theses/dissertations, conference abstracts, commentaries, editorials or summary reports were excluded from the study.

RESULTS: A total of six articles were included in the qualitative synthesis. Study objective, patient population, setting, description of the PRO measures, method of PRO administration, and key findings were extracted from the studies. PRO measures such as PDQ-39, MacCAT-T, and those comprising of discrete choice experiments were used to measure patients’ quality of life, medical decision making and willingness to accept tradeoffs among various PD-related treatment attributes. Majority of the PROs were administered as surveys using mail, telephone or the internet. The studies showed that patients with PD benefited from their engagement in the treatment decisions. Being involved in the decision-making process was also associated with improvement in patient’s well-being and overall satisfaction.

CONCLUSIONS: Although there were limited number of studies evaluating the use of PROs in SDM in the PD population, the results demonstrate the importance of generating valuable information that can inform the patients of their treatment choices. There is a need to seamlessly integrate PRO assessment in the clinical practice.