ParkinSong Online: Feasibility of Telehealth Delivery and Remote Data Collection for a Therapeutic Group Singing Study in Parkinson's.

The study was designed for feasibility and was not powered to test whether the intervention works. It had no control group, and participants had a progressive condition, so small declines over time could reflect Parkinson's rather than the intervention. Only 28 participants were recruited; the planned sample was 30, and some speech analyses included fewer because of missing or unusable data. Most participants were in earlier stages, had minimal cognitive impairment, already liked singing, and had low baseline distress, so results may not apply to people with more advanced disease, greater cognitive impairment, or more mood symptoms. The online format required muting during group singing, which prevented facilitators from hearing participants and may have reduced vocal effort and feedback. Technology support was a major challenge, and the MoCA score was only approximate for deciding who needed assistance.

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. Funding included the Medical Research Future Fund in Australia and salaried support from The University of Melbourne. One author is an employee of Redenlab Inc, which supplied the proprietary speech composite scores and online data collection software used in the study. Other authors reported support from the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council, and a joint appointment with Healthscope and La Trobe University.

Do not conclude that online group singing improves voice loudness or wellbeing in Parkinson's. This was a feasibility study without a control group and not powered for efficacy, and no secondary efficacy outcomes improved; some voice and anxiety scores declined.