Key clinical point: Palliative care added to standard care significantly improved quality of life for patients with Parkinson’s disease and related disorders, compared with patients who received standard care alone.

Major finding: Quality of life significantly improved for patients in the palliative care group, compared with patients receiving standard of care only at 6 months (0.66 vs. –0.84; between-group difference, 1.87; 95% confidence interval, 0.47-3.27; P = 0.009) and at 12 months (0.68 vs. –0.42; between-group difference, 1.36; 95% CI, −0.01 to 2.73; P = .05).

Study details: A randomized controlled trial of 210 patients with Parkinson’s disease and related disorders who received standard care alone, or palliative care in addition to standard care between November 2015 and September 2017 as well as an analysis of caregiver burden in 175 caregivers associated with those patients.

Disclosures: Six authors reported receiving a grant from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, which was the funding source for the study. Two reported receiving grants from the University Hospital Foundation during the study. One author reported receiving grants from Allergan, Merz Pharma and is a consultant for GE Pharmaceuticals and Sunovion Pharmaceuticals; another reported receiving grants from the Archstone Foundation, the California Health Care Foundation, the Cambia Health Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the National Institute of Nursing Research, the Stupski Foundation, and the UniHealth Foundation. Dr. Bloem and a colleague reported their institution received a center of excellence grant from the Parkinson’s Foundation.