Impaired Touchscreen Skills in Parkinson's Disease and Effects of Medication.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Deficits in fine motor skills may impair device manipulation including touchscreens in people with Parkinson's disease (PD).

Objectives

To investigate the impact of PD and anti-parkinsonian medication on the ability to use touchscreens.

Methods

Twelve PD patients (H&Y II-III), OFF and ON medication, and 12 healthy controls (HC) performed tapping, single and multi-direction sliding tasks on a touchscreen and a mobile phone task (MPT). Task performance was compared between patients (PD-OFF, PD-ON) and HC and between medication conditions.

Results

Significant differences were found in touchscreen timing parameters, while accuracy was comparable between groups. PD-OFF needed more time than HC to perform single (P = 0.048) and multi-direction (P

SUBMITTER: De Vleeschhauwer J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8088105 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature