Treatment efficacy of interventional therapies

The International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society (MDS) produced an evidence-based review evaluating the available interventions for the treatment of motor fluctuations in patients with PD receiving oral levodopa therapy.¹ To this purpose, the MDS conducted a literature search in the MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane databases, using the following search terms: Parkinson disease, levodopa and, for the Embase and MEDLINE databases, randomized controlled trial (RCT).¹ Studies were included in the literature review if they included patients with PD, on oral levodopa therapy, experiencing motor fluctuations, and if they investigated an intervention that was (commercially) available in at least one country, had a randomized controlled study design, and a follow-up duration of at least 3 months.¹ MDS formulated an efficacy conclusion for each intervention based on the clinical relevance of the outcome (rather than the effect size), and on the quality of the available evidence (assessing the risk of bias, imprecision, inconsistency, indirectness, and likelihood of publication bias).¹

Reference:
1. de Bie RMA, Katzenschlager R, Swinnen BEKS, et al. Update on treatments for Parkinson’s disease motor fluctuations – An International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society evidence-based medicine review. Mov Disord 2025; doi: 10.1002/mds.30162.