Path Finder: A Health Economics Evaluation of Visual Cues as a means to Reduce Falls in Parkinson's

路径查找器：对视觉提示作为减少帕金森氏症跌倒手段的健康经济学评估

• 批准号: 105346
• 金额: $ 2.11万
• 依托单位: WALK WITH PATH LIMITED
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Collaborative R&D
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2019 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=105346
• 关键词: Path; Finder; Health; Economics; Evaluation

Every year the NHS spends around £2.3 billion on falls. Falls are due to a variety of reasons including neurological conditions such as Parkinson's disease. A symptom of Parkinson's called 'freezing' causes sufferers to suddenly feel as if glued to the floor and unable to move. This often happens mid walk and is a major cause for instability and falls, leading to up to 70% of falls in Parkinson's. Falls can lead to serious injuries such as hip fractures, or in some cases they may even cause death. Path Finder reduces the time spent freezing as well as how often a person freezes, by projecting visual cues. The device hooks over the users shoes and projects a greenlaser line in front of each opposing foot. This triggers walking and helps the user to walk more fluidly and independently.Our proposed project will begin to assess the clinical cost effectiveness of the device in the NHS. We will commence with a small scale study in a NHS hospital to start gathering data to support the cost effectiveness of the device. We will then work with NICE to critically analyse our evidence to date. This will be used to help plan our route to sell into the NHS. Path Finder has been on the market throughout the European Economic Area (EEA) since June 2017. We sell mainly directly to customers and through some distributors. Selling into healthcare systems such as the NHS, however, will be our biggest source of revenue.Currently, healthcare systems such as the NHS do not have a single good solution to falls and freezing in Parkinson's disease. Walking canes and frames are used for support, but they can be bulky, making them hard to maneuver when freezing and when in the home (where freezing most often occurs). Physiotherapy is also used, and although it can be effective, it carries a 70% non-compliance rate, meaning that people do not do their exercises. As such, it becomes an expensive and ineffective solution.Path Finder offers a new method to alleviate a specific symptom in Parkinson's disease, which has been demonstrated to cause the majority of falls for this population. As such, Path Finder holds great promise in reducing falls and the human and economic costs that follow.

英国国民保健服务每年在福尔斯上花费约23亿英镑。福尔斯是由于各种原因，包括神经系统疾病，如帕金森氏病。帕金森氏症的一种症状叫做“冻结”，导致患者突然感觉好像粘在地板上，无法移动。这种情况经常发生在步行途中，是不稳定和福尔斯的主要原因，导致帕金森病患者高达70%的福尔斯跌倒。福尔斯会导致严重的伤害，如髋骨骨折，在某些情况下，甚至可能导致死亡。通过投射视觉线索，路径跟踪减少了冻结时间以及一个人冻结的频率。该装置钩在用户的鞋和项目的绿色激光线在前面的每一个相对的脚。这触发了行走，并帮助用户更流畅和独立地行走。我们提出的项目将开始评估该设备在国民保健服务中的临床成本效益。我们将在NHS医院开始一项小规模研究，开始收集数据，以支持该设备的成本效益。然后，我们将与NICE合作，批判性地分析我们迄今为止的证据。这将被用来帮助计划我们的路线出售到国民保健服务。自2017年6月以来，Path ®已在整个欧洲经济区（EEA）上市。我们主要直接向客户销售，并通过一些分销商。然而，向NHS等医疗保健系统销售将是我们最大的收入来源。目前，NHS等医疗保健系统还没有一个很好的解决帕金森氏症患者的福尔斯和冻结的方案。手杖和框架用于支撑，但它们可能很笨重，在寒冷和家中（最常发生寒冷的地方）时很难操纵。物理疗法也被使用，虽然它可能是有效的，但它有70%的不依从率，这意味着人们不做运动。因此，它成为一个昂贵和无效的解决方案。路径治疗提供了一种新的方法，以减轻帕金森氏病的特定症状，这已被证明是导致大多数福尔斯为这一人群。因此，Path ®在减少福尔斯以及随之而来的人力和经济成本方面具有很大的前景。