Artificial Intelligence Applications for Assessment, Monitoring, and Management of Parkinson Disease Symptoms: Protocol for a Systematic Review (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disease, with more than 6 million people with Parkinson’s (PwP) worldwide. Current assessments of PD symptoms are conducted by questionnaires and clinician assessments, and have many limitations including unreliable reporting of symptoms, little autonomy for patients over their disease management, and standard clinical review intervals regardless of disease status or clinical need. To address these limitations, digital technologies including wearable sensors, smartphone applications, and artificial intelligence (AI) tools have been implemented for this population. Many reviews have explored the use of AI in the diagnosis and management of motor dysfunction in PwP, however there is limited research on the application of AI to the non-motor symptoms or PD. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this systematic review is to identify and summarise the current applications of AI applied to the assessment, monitoring and management of PD symptoms. METHODS The present review protocol was structured using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols (PRISMA-P) and the Population, Intervention, Comparator, and Outcome (PICO) frameworks. Five databases will be systematically searched: PubMed, IEEE Xplore, Institute for Scientific Information’s Web of Science, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library. Title and abstract screening, full-text review and data extraction will be conducted by two independent reviewers. Data will be extracted into a predetermined form and any disagreements in screening or extraction will be discussed. Risk of bias will be assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias 2 tool for randomised trials and the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool for non-randomised trials. RESULTS As of January 2023, this systematic review has not yet been started. It is expected to begin in March 2023, with the aim to complete by December 2023. CONCLUSIONS The present systematic review will provide an overview of the types of AI being used for the assessment, monitoring and management of PD symptoms. This will identify areas for further research in which AI techniques can be applied to the assessment or management of Parkinson’s disease symptoms. CLINICALTRIAL Awaiting approval from PROSPERO.