In‐Home Remote Assessment of the MDS‐UPDRS Part III: Multi‐Cultural Development and Validation of a Guide for Patients

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundThe shift toward virtualized care introduces challenges in assessing the motor severity of Parkinson's disease (PD). The Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS‐UPDRS) part III, the most used rating scale in PD, lacks validation for synchronous remote administration.ObjectiveOur goal was to validate the usability of a patient guide to allow an accurate video‐based MDS‐UDPRS part III remote examination.MethodsWe conducted a multi‐stage mixed methods study that included a team consensus for the concept of the guide, cognitive pretesting, and usability (system usability scale, [SUS]) testing in five sites (total n = 25 participants) with distinct linguistic and cultural contexts.ResultsA multi‐language (English, Portuguese, Spanish, and traditional Chinese) largely pictograph guide of the MDS‐UPDRS part III remote examination reached benchmark for usability (SUS score ≥68) in 25 participants who completed the synchronous remote assessment.ConclusionsThe MDS‐UDPRS part III remote examination guide can be used remotely accurately, and facilitate clinical practice and research in a paradigm of telemedicine.