Staff at University of Lincoln Clinical Trials Unit would like to say a big thank you to all the People with Parkinson’s Disease (PwPD) who have experienced use of the wearable Eye Guide MC device and who considered and/or took part in our survey. Eye Guide MC is a relatively new wearable device, and this study is an important first step to learn more about it.
This survey took place in November and December 2023, and we hope that the results obtained will stimulate further evidence-driven in-depth research on this subject.
Who took part in the survey?
PwPD who took part had an average age of 71 years and 90% described themselves as British and/or white. On average they had Parkinson’s Disease (PD) for between 1.6 and 34 years. 77% of participants were still using the Eye Guide MC at the time of the survey and 23% had stopped using it. Current and past users had used their device for 1.4 and 0.8 years respectively. Most PwPD who no longer used the Eye Guide MC said that they had stopped using it simply due to a lack of improvement or benefit however we cannot tell whether this was related to their disease progression or other un-controlled factors which were beyond the scope of this study.
How was the Eye Guide MC Used?
84% of participants had the clear attachment on their Eye Guide MC (as opposed to the white or white with a blue end attachment) and most PwPD reported that they got used to wearing it within a few days with 86% wearing it continuously throughout the day for an average of 14 hours. There were some situations where some users were not inclined to wear the Eye Guide MC, the most commonly reported being personal care activities (such as showering, bathing, shaving and washing), situations/appointments involving close contact with other people (such as hairdressing, eye tests, dentists, hospital appointments, hearing tests, massage therapy and intimate contact), water sport and other water-related activities.
Did the using the Eye Guide MC cause any adverse effects or result in any changes to PD medications?
We did not receive significant reports of any obvious adverse effects relating to Eye Guide MC use. A few PwPD did report that the Eye Guide MC could be difficult to wear alongside hearing aids and glasses and a few did report some soreness associated with the earpiece (much like wearing glasses). One person mentioned having a couple of falls but since falls are common in PD, it is not possible for us to conclude anything from this.
Eye Guide MC use did not seem to significantly affect medication use and participants generally did not think that any changes in medication doses were likely to be caused by the device.
Did the using the Eye Guide MC influence PD symptoms in current users?
Mobility/movement and walking/gait were the symptoms that were most felt to be improved to some degree (in 85% and 83% respectively). Improvements were also perceived less commonly, in rigidity, speech, tremors, strength, dyskinesia, anxiety and pain (in 57%, 54%, 44%, 44%, 40%, 39%, 24% respectively).
Did using the Eye Guide MC use have any effect on general activities of daily living and overall quality of life in current users?
Mobility inside and outside the home were the activities that were considered most often improved to some extent (in 74% and 68% respectively). Improvements were also observed to a lesser extent in confidence in social settings, dressing, hobbies/sports, concentrating, communicating, washing/bathing (in 44%, 43%, 43%, 41%, 33%, 31% respectively).
Ability to work was least improved (in 24%) but this is likely because work was not an activity that was applicable to 50% of current users who were of average age of 71 years.
What is the overall conclusion of the study?
This small study does suggest that Eye Guide MC may be helpful to some PwPD in addition to PD medication. It does not work for everyone however and it is quite possible that efficacy of the device may change with disease progression or be affected by other unknown factors. Our results suggest that the device could be most helpful in alleviating symptoms of impaired gait and movement and give a modest improvement in abilities to perform general activities of daily living which are affected by these symptoms. Further research will however be required to confirm this.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank staff at Eye Guide MC Ltd for giving us the opportunity to do this study and for sending the surveys to PwPD on behalf of the research team.
Further Information
If you would like more information about this study, please contact Lincoln Clinical Trials Unit (LinCTU@lincoln.ac.uk).
More information about the Eye Guide MC device can be found at: https://www.eyeguidemc.co.uk/
No external funding was received by University of Lincoln for conducting this project.
Ethics approval was obtained for this project from University of Lincoln Research Ethics committee (ref: UoL_2023_15979).