Digital Health Company Beneufit Announces A Comprehensive Set Of Tools That Help People with Parkinson’s (PwP) Manage Medications and Track Their Effect On Motor Symptoms

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Beneufit, Inc.

Dec 13, 2017, 03:00 ET

SAN FRANCISCO (PRWEB) December 13, 2017 -- Beneufit, Inc., a provider of digital medical management tools for People with Parkinson’s disease (PwP) announced medication and symptoms tracking tools designed to increase medication compliance and provide insight into medication’s effect on symptoms. Non-adherence to medication is a major reason for poor symptom control in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and greater adherence maximizes symptom control and optimizes quality of life.*

Beneufit’s pdFIT™ cycling exercise app (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pd-fit/id858155935?mt=8) now has a Medications section specifically designed for PwP. People are able to select medications, add notes, set up reminders and track compliance and side-effects through the app. Information on the regimen’s dose and timing is displayed with easy to understand charts. The circleTap™ finger tapping test results are overlaid on charts to help visualize the relationship between motor control and medication.

“Our goal is for this tool to become an extension of the physician.” explains Beneufit CEO Jeff Broderick. “Lack of insight into the illness and complexity of treatment plans are predictors of non-adherence.** People with Parkinson’s want to know how they’re doing in between doctor’s visits. This is especially important as the disease progresses and treatment plans become more complex and hard to manage.”

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease that affects roughly 10 million people worldwide and 1 million in the United States.§ The progressive, degenerative nature of the disease along with complex treatment regimens makes treatment adherence in PD a challenge. More than half of PD patients in the later stages of the disease take two or three drugs three to four times a day. (¡,ƒ) Recent studies have shown that smartphone apps can improve medication adherence and perceived quality of care. (**,†,‡)

“Parkinson disease presents differently in every patient and creates new challenges for patients and physicians as it progresses.” said Movement Disorder Specialist Dr. Jerome Lisk, Beneufit’s Medical Director. “Medications can be complex to manage and most patients are on at least three. Other symptoms such as dementia, genitourinary dysfunction, psychosis, neurogenic orthostatic hypotension, pain, sleep disorders, GI dysfunction and motor complications can complicate treatment and management of medications.Giving patients more control and tools to better manage their disease and partner with their Neurologist will certainly empower patients, improve care coordination, improve outcomes and reduce the financial burden of Parkinson's disease.”

Beneufit's circleTap™ finger tapping test allows users to objectively assess their manual dexterity and fine motor control on their own through the pdFIT™ app. The 60-second test is based on finger tapping tests that have been used in clinical trials of Parkinson’s disease over the past 30 years. The alternate finger tapping test is a valid, sensitive measure of bradykinesia that correlates with the UPDRS motor score as well as with other validated clinical measures.¶

About Beneufit, Inc.
Beneufit is a digital health company that combines disease-specific software with mobile devices, wearables and data analytics to monitor and change behavior in a manner that improves medical

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References

*Daley DJ, Myint PK, Gray RJ, Deane KHO. Interventions for improving medication adherence in patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (Protocol). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2014, Issue 8. Art. No.: CD011191. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD011191.

** Lakshminarayana, R., et al. Using A Smartphone Based Self-Management Platform To Support Medication Adherence And Clinical Consultation In Parkinson’s Disease Results From The Smart-PD Randomised Controlled Trial. Value in Health 19.7 (2016): A700.

§ Statistics. (2017, October 16). Retrieved from http://www.parkinson.org/Understanding-Parkinsons/Causes-and-Statistics/Statistics

¡ Tan, E. K., Yeo, A. P., Tan, V., Pavanni, R. and Wong, M.C. (2005), Prescribing pattern in Parkinson's disease: are cost and efficacy overriding factors?. International Journal of Clinical Practice, 59: 511–514. doi:10.1111/j.1368-5031.2005.00426.

ƒ Schapira, A. H., Agid, Y., Barone, P., Jenner, P., Lemke, M. R., Poewe, W., Rascol, O., Reichmann, H. and Tolosa, E. (2009), Perspectives on recent advances in the understanding and treatment of Parkinson’s disease. European Journal of Neurology, 16: 1090–1099. doi:10.1111/j.1468-1331.2009.02793.

† Anglada-Martinez, H., Riu-Viladoms, G., Martin-Conde, M., Rovira-Illamola, M., Sotoca-Momblona, J. M. and Codina-Jane, C. (2015), Does mHealth increase adherence to medication? Results of a systematic review. Int J Clin Pract, 69: 9–32. doi:10.1111/ijcp.12582.

‡ Vervloet, M., Linn, A. J., van Weert, J. C. M., de Bakker, D. H., Bouvy, M. L., & van Dijk, L. (2012). The effectiveness of interventions using electronic reminders to improve adherence to chronic medication: a systematic review of the literature. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA, 19(5), 696–704. http://doi.org/10.1136/amiajnl-2011-000748.

¶ Tavares A, Jefferis G, Koop M, Hill B, Hastie T, Heit G, Bronte-Stewart H. Quantitative Measurements of Alternating Finger Tapping in Parkinson’s Disease Correlate With UPDRS Motor Dissability and Reveal the Improvement in Fine Motor Control From Medication and Deep Brain Stimulation. Mov Disord. J., Vol. 20 No 10, 2005, DOI:10.1002/mds.20556.

Jeff Broderick, Beneufit, Inc., http://beneufit.com/, +1 415-500-2770, [email protected]