The future of clinical trials? Monitoring mobility as an outcome measure in Parkinson's disease: The mobilise-D study

Tracking walking to understand Parkinson’s: Insights from the Mobilise-D studyDifficulty with walking is regularly highlighted by people with Parkinson's as one of their most troublesome symptoms. To identify treatments with the potential to slow or halt disease progression, researchers need to track changes to mobility in a way that is accurate and meaningful to people with Parkinson's. Currently, many measures used in clinical trials often provide only a snapshot on one day. This does not accurately reflect how fluctuations in mobility from day-to-day can affect people. One promising method instead is using wearable devices that monitor how people move during their daily lives.A large international research group, the Mobilise-D consortium, studied over 600 people with Parkinson's and more than 200 people without the condition across five sites in Europe. Participants wore a small device either on their lower back or on a belt around their waist for a week. This tracked their walking patterns and activity levels.The results showed clear differences in how people with Parkinson's moved compared to those without the disease. For example, people with PD walked less, took fewer steps, and had different walking rhythms throughout the day. These differences generally became more noticeable as the disease became more advanced.Importantly, participants were happy to wear the devices and followed the study instructions well, showing this method is practical for future use. Digital measures of mobility are therefore able to measure changes in mobility and walking in Parkinson's disease. This may be a useful tool for improving development and real-world testing of new treatments.