This study quantifies elevated emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and substantial home-based care use among 210 patients with Parkinson’s-related disorders and moderate-to-high palliative care needs over 12 months.

The results are useful for healthcare planning and for designing clinical studies or care models by highlighting acute-care burden and persistent supportive-care needs, but the paper provides little mechanistic or therapeutic-discovery insight for Parkinson’s drug development.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare utilization among individuals with Parkinson's disease and related disorders (PDRD) with significant palliative care (PC) needs is not well characterized. OBJECTIVES: To describe healthcare utilization in a well-defined cohort of PDRD patients with moderate-to-high PC needs. METHODS: We conducted a secondary analysis of a multi-site randomized trial of outpatient PC. Participants reported healthcare utilization every six weeks over 12 months. Outcomes included emergency department (ED) visits, overnight hospitalizations, in-home medical services, and psychosocial or spiritual support. RESULTS: Among 210 patients (mean age 70.1 years; 64% male), the annualized ED visit rate was 1.16 per person-year (95% CI 0.94-1.42) and the hospitalization rate was 0.48 per person-year (95% CI 0.33-0.69). Among 136 participants with complete follow-up, 43.4% had ≥1 ED visit and 21.3% had ≥1 hospitalization. Home-based services were used by 38.1%. CONCLUSIONS: Utilization rates exceeded those reported in broader PD populations but were lower than in dementia. Persistent home-based care needs highlight ongoing supportive care demands.