By Vijay Kumar MalesuOct 23 2023Reviewed by Lily Ramsey, LLM In a recent study published in npj Parkinson's Disease, a group of researchers concisely compared the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of various anti-Parkinson's drugs used with levodopa, utilizing a network meta-analysis approach.
Existing NMAs often exclude newly available drugs or certain drug forms and stages of PD, and they typically use Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale scores rather than off-time reduction, which is more relevant for patients with advanced PD experiencing motor fluctuations. The scope was narrowed to randomized controlled trials published in English, involving Parkinson's patients experiencing motor fluctuations and comparing placebo with selected Parkinson's drugs or among the drugs themselves.
The research also thoroughly examined any inconsistencies or heterogeneities within the collected data, underpinning the study's thoroughness and credibility. Regarding discontinuation due to all causes, pramipexole, and ropinirole showed a significantly lower risk than placebo, with ropinirole ranking the highest in this outcome, followed by pramipexole, safinamide, and ropinirole ER.