UNASSIGNED: For the past five years, our annual reports have been tracking the clinical development of new drug-based therapies for the neurodegenerative condition of Parkinson\'s disease (PD). These reviews have followed the progress both of \"symptomatic treatments\" (ST - improves/reduces symptoms of the condition) and \"disease-modifying treatments\" (DMT - attempts to delay/slow progression by addressing the underlying biology of PD). Efforts have also been made to further categorize these experimental treatments based on their mechanisms of action and class of drug.
UNASSIGNED: A dataset of clinical trials for drug therapies in PD using trial data downloaded from the ClinicalTrials.gov online registry was generated. A breakdown analysis of all the studies that were active as of January 31st, 2024, was conducted. This analysis involved categorizing the trials based on both the mechanism of action (MOA) and the drug target.
UNASSIGNED: There were 136 active Phase 1-3 trials evaluating drug therapies for PD registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, as of January 31, 2024. Of these trials, 76 (56%) were classified as ST trials and 60 (44%) were designated DMT. More than half (58%) of the trials were in Phase 2 testing stage, followed by Phase 1 (30%) and Phase 3 (12%). 35 of the trials were registered since our last report, with the remaining 101 trials appearing in at least one earlier report.
UNASSIGNED: The drug development pipeline for PD remains in a robust state with a wide variety of approaches being developed and evaluated in Phase 1 and 2. Yet again, however, only a limited number of DMTs are transitioning to Phase 3.
The development of new medical therapies, particularly for neurodegenerative conditions, is a long process that involves multiple phases of testing before a treatment is approved for use in a doctor’s clinic. The first phase assesses the short-term safety of a drug – most often in healthy volunteers but sometimes in people affected by the disease. The second phase explores the short-term safety and preliminary efficacy of the agent in people affected by the disease of interest, and the third phase investigates long-term safety and efficacy in a large group of people affected by the disease. For a disease like Parkinson’s disease, where the causes of the condition are not well understood, drugs targeting different biological pathways need to be tested to determine which ones may be useful in treating the symptoms, and which could be administered to slow down or stop the progression of the condition. Here, we provide an annual report on the current landscape of both these clinical testing efforts. In total, we reviewed 136 active studies evaluating therapies for Parkinson’s disease registered on a clinical trial database called ‘ClinicalTrials.gov’. Of these trials, approximately 55% were testing experimental symptomatic treatments, while the rest were focused on slowing down disease progression. More than half (58%) of the studies were in the second phase of clinical testing (short-term safety and preliminary efficacy), but only three studies were found to be testing treatments to stop the progression of Parkinson’s in the Phase 3 testing. We concluded that the drug development pipeline for Parkinson’s is robust, but more progress needs to be made with late-stage testing of treatments to slow the disease.

UNASSIGNED: In 2011, only 18% of the population in Galician knew the COPD. Since then, activities have been carried out to publicize this disease. The objective of this study was to evaluate the current situation regarding the knowledge of COPD in the Galician population.
UNASSIGNED: Cross-sectional study, through telephone surveys. Variables included in the questionnaire, related to knowledge of the disease, were analyzed.
UNASSIGNED: 872 respondents, 53% women, mean age 54 years. 63% with secondary/university studies. 40% has knowledge of COPD. In contrast, more than 90% of respondents know other high-frequency diseases (diabetes, stroke, asthma). The factors most associated with knowledge of COPD were female gender, having secondary/university studies, and having previously performed spirometry.
UNASSIGNED: The knowledge of COPD in the Galician population is 40% now, higher than in 2011, but it is far from that of other prevalent diseases.

Since 2020, annual reports on the clinical development of new drug-based therapies for the neurodegenerative condition of Parkinson\'s disease (PD) have been generated. These reviews have followed the progress of both \"symptomatic treatments\" (ST - improves/reduces symptoms of the condition) and \"disease modifying treatments\" (DMT - attempts to delay/slow progression by addressing the underlying biology of PD). Additional efforts have been made to further categorize these experimental treatments based on their mechanisms of action and class of drug.
A dataset of clinical trials for drug therapies in PD was obtained using trial data downloaded from the ClinicalTrials.gov online registry. A breakdown analysis of all the studies that were active as of January 31st, 2023, was conducted.
There was a total of 139 clinical trials registered on the ClinicalTrials.gov website as active (with 35 trials newly registered since our last report). Of these trials, 76 (55%) were considered ST and 63 (45%) were designated DMT. Similar to previous years, approximately a third of the studies were in Phase 1 (n = 47; 34%), half (n = 72, 52%) were in Phase 2 and there were 20 (14%) studies in Phase 3. Novel therapies again represented the most dominant group of experimental treatments in this year\'s report with 58 (42%) trials testing new agents. Repurposed drugs are present in a third (n = 49, 35%) of trials, with reformulations and new claims representing 19% and 4% of studies, respectively.
Our fourth annual review of active clinical trials evaluating ST and DMT therapeutics for PD demonstrates that the drug development pipeline is dynamic and evolving. The slow progress and lack of agents transitioning from Phase 2 to Phase 3 is concerning, but collective efforts by various stakeholders are being made to accelerate the clinical trial process, with the aim of bringing new therapies to the PD community sooner.

UNASSIGNED: Testicular cancer (TC) is one of the most common cancers among young men, with survival rates exceeding 97% due to effective treatments. Post-treatment follow-up care is important for long-term survival and monitoring psychosocial symptoms, yet TC survivors (TCS) show poor adherence to post-treatment care. Mobile-health-based interventions show high acceptability in men with cancer. This study will examine the feasibility of using the Zamplo health app to improve adherence to post-treatment care and support psychosocial outcomes in TCS.
UNASSIGNED: This mixed-methods, longitudinal, single-arm pilot study will recruit N = 30 patients with a diagnosis of TC who finished treatment within ≤ 6 months and are currently aged ≥18 years old. Adherence to follow-up appointments (e.g. blood work, scans) will be assessed (primary outcome), and measures for fatigue, depression, anxiety, sexual satisfaction and function, social roles satisfaction, general mental and physical health and body image (secondary outcomes) will be completed at four-time points: baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months. One-on-one semi-structured interviews will be conducted post-intervention (month 12).
UNASSIGNED: Improvements in post-treatment follow-up appointment adherence and psychosocial outcomes will be analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired samples t-tests to determine changes across time points 1 through 4, and correlation analysis. Qualitative data will be analyzed using thematic analysis.
UNASSIGNED: Findings will inform future, larger trials that incorporate evaluation of sustainability and economic implications to improve adherence to TC follow-up guidelines. Findings will be disseminated via infographics, social media, publications and presentations conducted in partnership with TC support organizations and at conferences.

Background and Objectives: After major heart surgery, some patients report visual hallucinations that cannot be attributed to psychosis or delirium. This study aimed to investigate the hallucination incidence in patients after coronary artery bypass grafting with (on-pump) and without (off-pump) extracorporeal circulation. Materials and Methods: A total of 184 consecutive patients listed for elective on- or off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting were prospectively enrolled into the study. Preoperative baseline investigations 24-48 h before surgery (t0) and postoperative follow-up 24-48 h (t1) and 5-6 days (t2) after surgery included cognitive testing and a clinical visual acuity test (Landolt rings). Patients reporting visual hallucinations were interviewed using a structured survey to record the type, timing, duration, and frequency of their hallucinations. All the patients received a neurological examination and cranial magnetic resonance imaging if indicated. Results: Of the patients in the sample, 155 patients underwent on-pump bypass surgery, and 29 patients received off-pump surgery. Of these, 25 patients in the on-pump group, but none in the off-pump group, reported transient visual hallucinations (p = 0.020), which could not be attributed to stroke, delirium, psychosis, migraine, or severely impaired vision. Significant correlations were observed for the occurrence of visual hallucinations and the amount of nicotine consumption and aortic clamp/extracorporeal circulation time. Conclusions: Transient visual hallucinations occur in a noticeable proportion of patients after on-pump heart surgery. Knowledge of the phenomenon\'s benignity is important for patients to prevent anxiety and uncertainty and for treating physicians to avoid unnecessary medication and drug-induced delirium.

Clinical trials worldwide were disrupted when the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020. Most intervention trials moved to some form of remote implementation due to restrictions on in-person research activities. Although the proportion of remote trials is growing, they remain the vast minority of studies in part due to few successful examples. Our team transitioned Goals for Reaching Optimal Wellness (GROWell), an NIH-funded (R01NR017659) randomized control trial (RCT; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT04449432) originally designed as a hybrid intervention, into a fully remote clinical trial. GROWell is a digital dietary intervention for people who enter pregnancy with overweight or obesity. Primary outcomes include gestational weight gain and six-month postpartum weight retention. Strategies that we have tested, refined, and deployed include: (a) use of a HIPAA-compliant, web-based participant recruitment and engagement platform; (b) use of a HIPAA-compliant digital health platform to disseminate GROWell and conduct study visits (c) interconnectivity of these two platforms for seamless recruitment, consent, enrollment, intervention delivery, follow-up, and study team blinding; (d) detailed SMS messages to address initial challenges with protocol adherence; (e) email notifications alerting the study team about missed participant surveys so they can follow-up; (f) remuneration using email gift cards with recipient choice of vendor; and (g) geotargeting social media campaigns to improve participation of Black Indigenous and People of Color Communities. These strategies have resulted in screen failure rates improving by 7%, study task adherence improving by an average of 20-30% across study visits, and study completion rates of 82%. Researchers may consider some or all of these approaches in future remote mHealth trials.

As the international community dealt with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, important progress continued to be made in the development of new drug-based therapies for the neurodegenerative condition of Parkinson\'s disease (PD) in 2021. This progress included both \"symptomatic treatments\" (ST - improves/reduces symptoms of the condition) and \"disease modifying treatments\" (DMT - attempts to delay/slow progression by addressing the underlying biology of PD), which can be categorised further based on their mechanisms of action and class of drug.
This report continues previous efforts to provide an overview of the pharmacological therapies - both ST and DMT - in clinical trials for PD during 2021- 2022, with the aim of creating greater awareness and involvement in the clinical trial process. We also hope to stimulate collaboration amongst all stakeholders, including industry, academia, advocacy organizations, and most importantly patient community.
We conducted a review of clinical trials of drug therapies for PD using trial data obtained from the ClinicalTrials.gov and World Health Organisation (WHO) registries, and performed a breakdown analysis of studies that were active as of January 31st 2022. We also assessed active drug development projects that had completed one clinical phase but were yet to start the next.
There was a total of 147 clinical trials registered on the ClinicalTrials.gov website as active during the period of analysis. Of these trials, 91 (62%)were investigating STs, while 56 (38%)focused on DMTs. Approximately 1/3 of the studies (34.7%; 51 trials) were in Phase 1, while over half of the trials were in Phase 2 (50.3%; 74 trials). Only 15% (22 trials) of the studies were in Phase 3, of which only 3 trials were evaluating DMTs. Novel therapeutics (42%)were the most common type of agents being tested across all phases of testing, followed by repurposed agents (34%)and reformulations (20%).
Despite significant global health constraints, the development of new drug-based therapies for PD continued in 2021. Hopefully with a shift towards a post-pandemic world in which COVID-19 is better managed, we will see an increase in the number of clinical trials focused on drug development for PD. The need for more Phase 3 studies for DMTs remains acute.

UNASSIGNED: Technologies such as social alarm systems contain expectations about how they should be integrated and used in practice. These expectations, also called technology scripts, usually fail to consider all the complexity in care practice. Shifting the focus from technology scripts to care practice, this paper examines how a social alarm system is used in assistant nurses\' care practices in nursing homes.
UNASSIGNED: The paper draws on observations of assistant nurses\' daily tasks (32 h) and semi-structured interviews with assistant nurses (n = 12) in two Swedish nursing homes. The observation data were used to understand the care contexts and assistant nurses\' technology-mediated care practices, while interviews were used to deeply understand assistant nurses\' perceptions of the system, their care practices, and which aspects they considered during the provision of care.
UNASSIGNED: We show the complexities involved in integrating a social alarm system into care practices based on assistant nurses\' situational and personal interpretations of both technology scripts and quality of care. The technology-mediated care practices consist of receiving alarms from residents, checking alarms via alarm phones, responding to alarms via alarm phones, checking specific residents\' situations in person, documenting all finished alarms, and documenting some finished alarms. In these practices, the assistant nurses defined technology scripts according to their expected requirements and outcomes, and meanwhile considered the quality of care by evaluating the priority of practical, moral or relational care in the situations at hand. Through further negotiations with the defined scripts and the considered quality of care, the assistant nurses decided on the final way of following (or not following) specific scripts in practice.
UNASSIGNED: Results from our study portray the complexity of technology in care practices. The findings contribute to increased understanding of technology-mediated care practices in nursing homes, and research on technology scripts in institutional settings.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been considerable activity in the clinical development of novel and improved drug-based therapies for the neurodegenerative condition of Parkinson\'s disease (PD) during 2020. The agents that were investigated can be divided into \"symptomatic\" (alleviating the features of the condition) and \"disease modifying\" (attempting to address the underlying biology of PD) treatments, ST and DMT respectively, with further categorisation possible based on mechanism of action and class of therapy.
Our goal in this report was to provide an overview of the pharmacological therapies -both ST and DMT - in clinical trials for PD during 2020-2021, with the aim of creating greater awareness and involvement in the clinical trial process. We also hope to stimulate collaboration amongst commercial and academic researchers as well as between the research and patient communities.
We conducted a review of clinical trials of drug therapies for PD using trial data obtained from the ClinicalTrials.gov and World Health Organisation (WHO) registries, and performed a breakdown analysis of studies that were active as of February 18th 2021. We also assessed active drug development projects that had completed one clinical phase but were yet to start the next.
We identified 142 trials on ClinicalTrials.gov and 14 studies on the WHO registries that met our analysis criteria. Of these 156 trials, 91 were ST and 65 were DMT, Of the 145 trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov in our 2020 analysis, 45 fell off the list and 42 were added. Despite this change, the balance of ST to DMT; the distribution across phases; the profile of therapeutic categories; and the proportion of repurposed therapies (33.5%); all remained very similar. There are only two DMTs in phase 3, and we identified 33 in-between-phase projects.
Despite the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, investment and effort in clinical trials for PD appears to remain strong. There has been little change in the profile of the clinical trial landscape even though, over the past year, there has been considerable change to the content of the list.

The majority of current pharmacological treatments for Parkinson\'s disease (PD) were approved for clinical use in the second half of the last century and they only provide symptomatic relief. Derivatives of these therapies continue to be explored in clinical trials, together with potentially disease modifying therapies that can slow, stop or reverse the condition.
To provide an overview of the pharmacological therapies- both symptomatic and disease modifying- currently being clinically evaluated for PD, with the goal of creating greater awareness and opportunities for collaboration amongst commercial and academic researchers as well as between the research and patient communities.
We conducted a review of clinical trials of drug therapies for PD using trial data obtained from the ClinicalTrials.gov database and performed a breakdown analysis of studies that were active as of January 21, 2020.
We identified 145 registered and ongoing clinical trials for therapeutics targeting PD, of which 51 were Phase 1 (35% of the total number of trials), 66 were Phase 2 (46% ), and 28 were Phase 3 (19% ). There were 57 trials (39% ) focused on long-term disease modifying therapies, with the remaining 88 trials (61% ) focused on therapies for symptomatic relief. A total of 50 (34% ) trials were testing repurposed therapies.
There is a broad pipeline of both symptomatic and disease modifying therapies currently being tested in clinical trials for PD.