Outpatient interface challenges for drug safety in Parkinson’s disease patients: a questionnaire based cross-sectional study

BackgroundParkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic and multifaceted disease with a variety of motor and non-motor symptoms. The safe symptomatic drug therapy of often multimorbid patients places enormous demands on the competence, communication and coordination of the treating physicians, particularly...

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Main Authors: Stephan Greten, Clara Niesmann, Lea Krey, Johannes Heck, Florian Wegner, Martin Klietz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-06-01
Series:Frontiers in Neurology
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2025.1563636/full
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author Stephan Greten
Clara Niesmann
Lea Krey
Johannes Heck
Florian Wegner
Martin Klietz
author_facet Stephan Greten
Clara Niesmann
Lea Krey
Johannes Heck
Florian Wegner
Martin Klietz
author_sort Stephan Greten
collection DOAJ
description BackgroundParkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic and multifaceted disease with a variety of motor and non-motor symptoms. The safe symptomatic drug therapy of often multimorbid patients places enormous demands on the competence, communication and coordination of the treating physicians, particularly in the outpatient sector.ObjectivesThis study aimed to explore aspects of drug safety and interdisciplinary communication in the outpatient sector of PD patients.MethodsA semistructured questionnaire was designed addressing various aspects of drug safety in the outpatient setting. The questionnaire was sent to a total of 1,002 general practitioners (GP) and 1,005 neurologists (NEU).ResultsOne hundred and forty-seven NEU and eighty-four GP answered the questionnaire. Overall, NEU treated more PD patients, while GP cared for more geriatric PD patients, especially outside of the outpatient clinic (home visits, nursing homes). Regarding the execution of recommended laboratory or technical check-ups, as well as the prescription of new medications, neither a formal agreement nor structured communication existed. Merely the identification of potential drug–drug interactions (DDI) was regularly carried out by both professions.ConclusionThe inadequate interdisciplinary communication hampers therapy safety and consequently the safety of the vulnerable PD patient group. For this reason, standardized and comprehensive communication mechanisms are urgently needed. Solution approaches may include an individual protected digital health record or integrated treatment networks comprising all professionals participating in the management of PD patients.
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spelling doaj-art-3fac9cc2ff4b4013a8667f4a155295342025-08-20T03:31:24ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neurology1664-22952025-06-011610.3389/fneur.2025.15636361563636Outpatient interface challenges for drug safety in Parkinson’s disease patients: a questionnaire based cross-sectional studyStephan Greten0Clara Niesmann1Lea Krey2Johannes Heck3Florian Wegner4Martin Klietz5Department of Neurology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, GermanyDepartment of Neurology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, GermanyDepartment of Neurology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, GermanyHannover Medical School, Institute for Clinical Pharmacology, Hannover, GermanyDepartment of Neurology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, GermanyDepartment of Neurology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, GermanyBackgroundParkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic and multifaceted disease with a variety of motor and non-motor symptoms. The safe symptomatic drug therapy of often multimorbid patients places enormous demands on the competence, communication and coordination of the treating physicians, particularly in the outpatient sector.ObjectivesThis study aimed to explore aspects of drug safety and interdisciplinary communication in the outpatient sector of PD patients.MethodsA semistructured questionnaire was designed addressing various aspects of drug safety in the outpatient setting. The questionnaire was sent to a total of 1,002 general practitioners (GP) and 1,005 neurologists (NEU).ResultsOne hundred and forty-seven NEU and eighty-four GP answered the questionnaire. Overall, NEU treated more PD patients, while GP cared for more geriatric PD patients, especially outside of the outpatient clinic (home visits, nursing homes). Regarding the execution of recommended laboratory or technical check-ups, as well as the prescription of new medications, neither a formal agreement nor structured communication existed. Merely the identification of potential drug–drug interactions (DDI) was regularly carried out by both professions.ConclusionThe inadequate interdisciplinary communication hampers therapy safety and consequently the safety of the vulnerable PD patient group. For this reason, standardized and comprehensive communication mechanisms are urgently needed. Solution approaches may include an individual protected digital health record or integrated treatment networks comprising all professionals participating in the management of PD patients.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2025.1563636/fulldrug safetyoutpatient careinterdisciplinary communicationParkinson’s diseasegeriatric patient
spellingShingle Stephan Greten
Clara Niesmann
Lea Krey
Johannes Heck
Florian Wegner
Martin Klietz
Outpatient interface challenges for drug safety in Parkinson’s disease patients: a questionnaire based cross-sectional study
Frontiers in Neurology
drug safety
outpatient care
interdisciplinary communication
Parkinson’s disease
geriatric patient
title Outpatient interface challenges for drug safety in Parkinson’s disease patients: a questionnaire based cross-sectional study
title_full Outpatient interface challenges for drug safety in Parkinson’s disease patients: a questionnaire based cross-sectional study
title_fullStr Outpatient interface challenges for drug safety in Parkinson’s disease patients: a questionnaire based cross-sectional study
title_full_unstemmed Outpatient interface challenges for drug safety in Parkinson’s disease patients: a questionnaire based cross-sectional study
title_short Outpatient interface challenges for drug safety in Parkinson’s disease patients: a questionnaire based cross-sectional study
title_sort outpatient interface challenges for drug safety in parkinson s disease patients a questionnaire based cross sectional study
topic drug safety
outpatient care
interdisciplinary communication
Parkinson’s disease
geriatric patient
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2025.1563636/full
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AT johannesheck outpatientinterfacechallengesfordrugsafetyinparkinsonsdiseasepatientsaquestionnairebasedcrosssectionalstudy
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