Preventive measures for Parkinson’s disease: insights into motivation and barriers from the patients’ perspective

Abstract Background The prevalence of Parkinson’s disease (PD) is increasing globally and to date there is no disease-modifying pharmacological treatment. In recent years, however, a solid evidence base has been established that lifestyle changes, including physical activity and Mediterranean diet, can have a disease-modifying effect. Nevertheless, there are currently no standardized lifestyle intervention programs and the opinion of PD patients on lifestyle changes as a possible form of therapy is not clear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether PD patients consider lifestyle changes to be relevant for their disease, and which hindering and supporting factors they describe when implementing preventive measures. Methods Patients were recruited from two German neurology clinics. A standardized questionnaire was used to evaluate the patients’ perception of education and implementation of lifestyle changes. Results The study included 107 PD patients. Most patients stated that they tried to implement recommendations on lifestyle changes (n = 89, 85%) and almost all considered education about lifestyle changes to be important (n = 96, 94%). Supporting factors for implementation included prevention programs, bonus programs as well as digital approaches. Obstacles included the fact that patients were only able to maintain their motivation for a short time, lack of knowledge and lack of cooperation from partners as well as physical limitations. Conclusion PD patients seem to be very interested in lifestyle changes and try to implement them but encounter various obstacles. Structured support programs could help maintain lifestyle changes and pave the way for effective non-pharmacological disease modification.