title: Combining entacapone with levodopa/DDCI improves clinical status and quality of life in Parkinson's Disease (PD) patients experiencing wearing-off, regardless of the dosing frequency: results of a large multicentre open-label study.
abstract: The efficacy of entacapone and its impact on patient quality of life (QOL) was investigated in an open-label study of 899 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's Disease (PD) experiencing wearing-off fluctuations. Patients were divided into 3 groups (3, 4 or 5 doses daily) based on their current levodopa dosage frequency. Patients received 200 mg entacapone with each levodopa/dopa-decarboxylase inhibitor (DDCI) dose, while continuing their same levodopa/DDCI dosage regimen for 4 weeks. Primary efficacy measure was the Investigators' Clinical Global Impression of Change (CGIC). Patient QoL was assessed using the validated 8-item Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-8). Investigators' CGIC revealed that 76.5% of entacapone treated patients experienced an improvement in global status after 4 weeks. Treatment with entacapone was also associated with improvement in patient QoL, with a mean reduction (improvement) in PDQ-8 score of 1.8 from baseline. This study confirms and extends the results of earlier studies demonstrating that, independent of dosing frequency, completing levodopa/DDCI therapy with entacapone provides clinically relevant improvements in global status and QoL in PD patients experiencing wearing-off on their current levodopa dosing frequency.
authors.affiliation: Servizio di Neurofisiopatologia, Pescara, Italy. onofrj@unich.it
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Onofrj
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vingerhoets
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Giménez-Roldán
authors.forename: J-P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Azulay
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bernhard
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Markabi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D065105:Aromatic Amino Acid Decarboxylase Inhibitors; D002396:Catechols / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007980:Levodopa / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009570:Nitriles; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D065105:Aromatic Amino Acid Decarboxylase Inhibitors; D002396:Catechols; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D009570:Nitriles; D007980:Levodopa; C071192:entacapone