Overview

We aim to reduce the drooling symptoms of people with Parkinson's through cueing. Sialorrhoea, also termed drooling or ptyalism, is a common symptom of Parkinson's, affecting up to 80% of people. Cue Band, funded by Parkinson's UK, is developing cueing devices to diminish drooling symptoms of people living with Parkinson's.

Technology

Cue Band comprises of a mobile application and wristband wearable allowing the following:

• Create a 7-day schedule of cueing of times
• Start and stop prompting at any moment
• Define intensity of the cueing
• Decide where to receive the cueing - mobile or band
• Set type of cueing - mobile vibration, audio or band vibration
• Use the band as a standalone to receive the cueing
• Create daily self-reports to register your drooling symptoms

Study

Our study explores the potential effects of different cueing methods on the perceived drooling severity and frequency. We will conduct a comparison study between receiving prompts for swallowing from the smartphone app and the wristband wearable. Participants will experience both cueing methods at determined intervals of 3 weeks and register daily their symptoms and experiences throughout the study.

We aim to recruit a total of 3000 people with Parkinson’s, which will receive a wristband to use in their daily life as they wish, contributing to the study through anonymous usage data. From these 3000 participants, we will recruit 300 for the formal comparison study between cueing methods over eight weeks. Every participant can keep the wristband for their daily life after the study ends if they wish to do so.