Side-to-side tap test results show long term improvement

[johntPM]

Those of you who are "numbers" people may be interested in the side-to-side tap test app that I wrote.

parkinsonsmeasurement.org/t...

This app counts how many times you can, using just your left hand index finger, repeatedly type q followed by p in a 30 second period. You repeat the process using your right hand.

This test gives a good measure of short term changes in performance. For instance, the effect of taking a levodopa pill: showing the initial no effect, followed by a rapid improvement, reaching a maximum in about 1 hour, followed by a plateau for about 2 hours, then going into a steep fall.

This particular graph shows the performance over most days of a 3 month period of an anonymous person. Only those days where the test was taken at least 360 minutes after the last medication was taken are included. Given the short half life of levodopa these readings approximate the "off" state.

I would like to draw your attention to the gentle upward trend of the values. Here, an increase in the values is good. The gentle increase is thought to be a training effect: you gradually get better at doing this test specifically. But, it could be that at least part of the improvement is due to a general improvement. Perhaps, repeating PD tests frequently is a good thing.

[Astra7]

I have used your dopamine level calculator in the past. It is very interesting.

I need a test I can do before going to tennis to indicate if I’m going to move or freeze.

I thought I could get 4 coloured squares of material and lay them on the ground. Then record a whole list of random colours, and play it back to myself and see how well I can move from square to square.

Worth a try!

[johntPM in reply to Astra7]

I'm sorry I didn't answer this earlier. How did your test go?

For optimum performance, you need to take into account:

- the time it takes the drug to be properly absorbed (e.g. C/L, about 60 minutes);

- the effect of any food that you've eaten recently on the rate of gastric emptying and protein competition;

- the half-life of the medication (e.g. C/L, about 90 minutes);

- whether you're in control of when the match starts;

- whether you control when the match finishes;

- whether you can take your drug during the event.

If I'm playing something competitively, I make sure I'm up to date with my medication (mainly Stalevo) and if there is a gap of at least 60 minutes from the last dose, i take an extra pill about 30 minutes before the expected start. This gives me about 2 hours at my optimum.

To fine tune the protocol for your needs, you may like to take the side-to-side tap test:

parkinsonsmeasurement.org/t...

If you do this test every 10 minutes, you can use the data to draw a graph showing your performance against time.