Patient Perspectives on Deep Brain Stimulation Clinical Research in Early Stage Parkinson's Disease.

The FDA has approved a multicenter, double-blind, Phase III, pivotal trial testing deep brain stimulation (DBS) in 280 people with very early stage Parkinson's disease (PD; IDE#G050016). In partnership with The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, we conducted a survey to investigate motivating factors, barriers, and gender differences among potentially eligible patients for participation in a trial testing DBS in early PD compared to standard medical treatment. The majority of survey respondents (72%) indicated they would consider learning more about participating. Early PD patients are therefore likely to consider enrolling in trials of invasive therapies that may slow symptom progression and help future patients.