B – 137 Feasibility of telehealth for mood and QoL assessments in Parkinson's disease deep brain stimulation (DBS) candidates

Abstract Objective Assessment of mood and quality of life (QoL) is important for Parkinson’s disease (PD) deep-brain stimulation (DBS) surgical candidacy, as it helps to identify psychological risk factors and guide post-surgical care needs for optimized prognosis. This study examines whether telehealth-psychological evaluations (TH) are as feasible as in-office assessments, and whether switching testing modalities affects symptom reporting. Method We retrospectively reviewed charts of 76 consecutive PD-DBS surgical candidates (age 64.2±9.3) who completed self-report questionnaires as part of routine pre- and post-DBS workup. Measures included the Beck Depression Inventory-2, Starkstein Apathy Scale, and Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire-39. Scores at pre- and post-surgery timepoints were compared between TH and in-office groups. Difference scores for each questionnaire were calculated by subtracting post-surgical from pre-surgical raw scores, and then compared between participants in stable (same testing modality; n=45) and switched (different modalities; n=31) groups. Independent-samples t-tests evaluated group differences, and Two One-Sided Tests (TOST) assessed statistical equivalence. Results At the post-surgical timepoint, t-tests revealed higher PDQ-39 communication scores in the TH group (t=2.47, p=.018). The stable modality group had higher post-surgical scores in PDQ-39 emotional well-being (t=2.12, p=.040) and communication (t=2.31, p=.027) domains than the switched modality group. However, TOST confirmed equivalence across all mood and behavioral measures (all p-values <.001), suggesting these differences were within acceptable margins (±0.5 SD). Conclusion Mood and QoL assessed via TH is comparable to in-office evaluations, although PDQ-39 communication and emotional well-being scores should be interpreted with caution. These findings support the clinical feasibility of remote mood and QoL assessments in PD-DBS candidates.