Comparative Effectiveness of Carbidopa/Levodopa Enteral Suspension and Deep Brain Stimulation on Pill Burden Reduction in Medicare Fee-for-Service Patients with Advanced Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract

Introduction: Complex polypharmacy regimens to manage persistent motor fluctuations result in significant pill burden for patients with advanced Parkinson's disease (APD). This study evaluated the effectiveness of carbidopa/levodopa enteral suspension (CLES) and deep brain stimulation (DBS) on reducing pill burden in APD patients. Methods: We utilized 100% Medicare fee-forservice claims from 2014 to 2018 linked to CLES Patient Support Program (PSP) data. CLES initiators (CLES-I) were propensity matched 1:1 with patients enrolled in PSP who did not initiate treatment (CLES-NI) (N = 188) or undergo