In April 2017, the investigators launched a platform named PaWei which contains an iOS and Android smartphone application for patients and doctors. The platform connects patients, doctors and researchers by establishing communication and data transfer between the cloud platform and the mobile applications over the internet. The PaWei app is made available for free to download through the Apple App Store and Android Market. Through national outpatient service, advertisement and community outreach, potential participants will be directed to the PaWei APP. The overall goal of this project is to identify, assess and longitudinally monitor subjects who are interested in participating in this study. Participants will enroll through the PaWei APP, and provide informed consent prior to any study activities.
The PaWei APP will include:
1. Information about the National Registry Study (who is eligible to participate, the goals of the project and other relevant information about investigators and sponsors involved in the Initiative).
2. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) such as "How will my information be used?", "How will patient information be safeguarded?", "What information will be requested?", "How much time will be required for registration and testing?" will be addressed for participants.
3. General information about Parkinsonian Disorders.
The National Registry Study will be a large, online database of volunteers who are interested in participating in this study. Anyone with Parkinsonian Disorders is welcome to join the Registry.
1. Participants will provide their email address or telephone number and create an account and username with the Registry.
2. The Registry will send an automatic email or short message to the participant to verify their email address or telephone number.
3. Participants will read the online Information Sheet and will be asked to provide their consent by clicking either "I consent" or "I decline." Participants who decline to participate in the Registry will be not included in our study.
4. Participants who give their consent will be permitted to continue through the registration process, which includes completing a battery of questionnaires designed to obtain a general understanding of participants health, medical history wellbeing.
5. In addition to questionnaires, participants will be able to complete online scales related to quality of life, and cognitive assessments.
6. Participants will be given the option to elect a Caregiver and/or Study Partner (CASP) to enrich their study profile.
7. Video recordings: Participants are asked to perform finger tapping, hand movements, and walking in MDS-UPDRS III test after being instructed by the video example, and then to upload the videos to the PaWei APP. The severity of motor dysfunctions on those videos can be judged by clinicians, and be potentially quantified in the future by AI technology under development.
8. Data validation: (1) The quality control of raw data is the initial step of data analysis for any successful research. In PaWei platform, the investigators take a strategy of assessing the data quality by identifying poor-quality data, like incomplete data and illogical data based on the logistic verification about consistency of relevant questions. (2) Automated feedback loops are employed with this strategy to enable real-time detection of incomplete data or illogical data, which can be used to improve data collection quality.
9. Participants may be referred to other research studies and/or clinical trials.
