Abdominal Binder to Treat Orthostatic Hypotension (OH) in Parkinson's Disease (PD)

Using a single-blinded placebo-controlled cross-over design, 15 consecutive patients with PD and symptomatic OH were randomly assigned to first receive either an elastic abdominal binder (20±2mmHg pressure on the abdominal wall, Abdo-Syncro 3-stripes abdominal binder, Syncro Med GmbH) or a placebo binder (3±2mmHg pressure on the abdominal wall, Clima Care body warmer, Bort Medical GmbH) on two different days, separated by an interval of one day, to compare their efficacy on tilt-test examinations. On study day-1, all patients underwent a 1st baseline tilt-test examination. Afterwards they were asked to wear the assigned binder. Two hours later, the 1st study tilt-test was performed. The binder was subsequently taken off. Following interval on day-2, on study day-3 patients were crossed over to the other type of binder and underwent the same protocol as on day-1. Mean blood pressure was calculated as: (diastolic blood pressure +1/3(systolic blood pressure - diastolic blood pressure).

Time frame: 3 days

Population: Fifteen patients were randomized. Three patients dropped-out during the cross-over phase (1 from the placebo-abdominal binder group and 2 from the abdominal binder-placebo group) and data from 12 patients were available for the primary outcome analysis.

Using a single-blinded placebo-controlled cross-over design, 15 consecutive patients with PD and symptomatic OH were randomly assigned to first receive either an elastic abdominal binder (20±2mmHg pressure on the abdominal wall, Abdo-Syncro 3-stripes abdominal binder, Syncro Med GmbH) or a placebo binder (3±2mmHg pressure on the abdominal wall, Clima Care body warmer, Bort Medical GmbH) on two different days, separated by an interval of one day, to compare their efficacy on tilt-test examinations. On study day-1, all patients underwent a 1st baseline tilt-test examination. Afterwards they were asked to wear the assigned binder. Two hours later, the 1st study tilt-test was performed. The binder was subsequently taken off. Following interval on day-2, on study day-3 patients were crossed over to the other type of binder and underwent the same protocol as on day-1.

Time frame: 3 days

Using a single-blinded placebo-controlled cross-over design, 15 consecutive patients with PD and symptomatic OH were randomly assigned to first receive either an elastic abdominal binder (20±2mmHg pressure on the abdominal wall, Abdo-Syncro 3-stripes abdominal binder, Syncro Med GmbH) or a placebo binder (3±2mmHg pressure on the abdominal wall, Clima Care body warmer, Bort Medical GmbH) on two different days, separated by an interval of one day, to compare their efficacy on tilt-test examinations. On study day-1, all patients underwent a 1st baseline tilt-test examination. Afterwards they were asked to wear the assigned binder. Two hours later, the 1st study tilt-test was performed. The binder was subsequently taken off. Following interval on day-2, on study day-3 patients were crossed over to the other type of binder and underwent the same protocol as on day-1. Mean blood pressure was calculated as: (diastolic blood pressure +1/3(systolic blood pressure - diastolic blood pressure).

Time frame: 3 days

Upon completion of the single-blinded cross-over phase, patients were invited to wear the elastic abdominal binder on daily basis for 4 weeks. We evaluated the changes in the total score of the Orthostatic Hypotension Questionnaire (OHQ, which quantifies the impact of orthostatic symptoms in daily life) after these 4 weeks with respect to baseline. The OHQ is a 10-items scale. For each item the minimum score is 0 (no symptoms) and the max score is 10 (worst symptoms severity). The OHQ total score is calculated as follows: sum of the scores in each item/10 (total score range: 0-10). Higher values indicate worse outcomes.

Time frame: 4 weeks

Using a single-blinded placebo-controlled cross-over design, 15 consecutive patients with PD and symptomatic OH were randomly assigned to first receive either an elastic abdominal binder (20±2mmHg pressure on the abdominal wall, Abdo-Syncro 3-stripes abdominal binder, Syncro Med GmbH) or a placebo binder (3±2mmHg pressure on the abdominal wall, Clima Care body warmer, Bort Medical GmbH) on two different days, separated by an interval of one day, to compare their efficacy on tilt-test examinations. On study day-1, all patients underwent a 1st baseline tilt-test examination. Afterwards they were asked to wear the assigned binder. Two hours later, the 1st study tilt-test was performed. The binder was subsequently taken off. Following interval on day-2, on study day-3 patients were crossed over to the other type of binder and underwent the same protocol as on day-1. Mean blood pressure was calculated as: (diastolic blood pressure +1/3(systolic blood pressure - diastolic blood pressure).

Time frame: 3 days

Using a single-blinded placebo-controlled cross-over design, 15 consecutive patients with PD and symptomatic OH were randomly assigned to first receive either an elastic abdominal binder (20±2mmHg pressure on the abdominal wall, Abdo-Syncro 3-stripes abdominal binder, Syncro Med GmbH) or a placebo binder (3±2mmHg pressure on the abdominal wall, Clima Care body warmer, Bort Medical GmbH) on two different days, separated by an interval of one day, to compare their efficacy on tilt-test examinations. On study day-1, all patients underwent a 1st baseline tilt-test examination. Afterwards they were asked to wear the assigned binder. Two hours later, the 1st study tilt-test was performed. The binder was subsequently taken off. Following interval on day-2, on study day-3 patients were crossed over to the other type of binder and underwent the same protocol as on day-1.

Time frame: 3 days