Utilization of Neurology and Allied Health Services by People With Parkinson's Disease in Israel: A Retrospective Observational Study.
Badera Naamneh-Abuelhija, Michal Kafri, Meir Kestenbaum and 6 others
PMID 39601514WHAT IT FOUND
People with Parkinson's in Israel rarely used therapy services.
Only about one in five used physical therapy, and speech therapy use was under 4%. Women and Arab patients were less likely to access care. Physical therapy use in early disease linked to more hospitalizations, possibly reflecting sicker patients.
Key findings
01Utilization of allied health services was low, with physical therapy used by 17.1% to 18.5% and speech therapy by 0% to 4.1% of patients annually.
02Women were less likely to utilize neurology services, and Arab patients were less likely to utilize physical therapy compared to Jewish patients.
03In patients diagnosed within the last 5 years, physical therapy utilization was associated with increased odds of unplanned hospitalization.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study did not account for private healthcare visits, which likely underestimates the true utilization of allied health services. Data on disease severity and medication use were not available, so it is unclear if low utilization was due to patient preference, provider behavior, or clinical appropriateness. Ethnicity was inferred from clinic location rather than self-report, which may introduce classification errors. The association between physical therapy and hospitalization in early-stage patients is observational and does not prove causation; sicker patients may have been referred to PT more often. Findings are from a single district in Israel with a specific insurance model, which may limit generalizability to other countries.
Declared interests
The study was supported by non-U.S. government funding. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the link between physical therapy use and higher hospitalization rates in early-stage patients as evidence that PT causes harm. The authors suggest this likely reflects that patients with more severe symptoms were referred to PT, meaning the therapy was treating sicker patients rather than preventing their hospitalization.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →