Brief Report: Knowledge of, Interest in, and Willingness to Try Behavioral Interventions in Individuals With Parkinson's Disease.

Purpose/Objective • Behavioral interventions hold enormous promise for managing a variety of motor and nonmotor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD). Despite this, prior studies have suggested that the utilization of these interventions is relatively low. The current study seeks to understand factors that could relate to the utilization of PD behavioral strategies. Specifically, the study evaluates the self-described knowledge of, interest in, and willingness to participate in behavioral interventions in a community-dwelling sample of individuals with PD. Research Method/Design • Forty-five individuals with PD completed a survey that assessed knowledge, interest, and willingness to participate in 5 behavioral interventions: hypnosis, relaxation training, mindfulness/meditation, computerized "brain games," and counseling. In addition, participants self-reported their quality of life across several domains; these domain scores were correlated with overall ratings of interest and willingness to participate in behavioral interventions. Results • Self-reported knowledge of behavioral interventions was low, but interest and willingness to participate was moderate to high across modalities. Statistically significant correlations were noted between perceived knowledge of the techniques and interest (r = 0.29, P = .05) as well as willingness to participate (r = 0.32, P = .03) in these techniques. Interest and willingness were also correlated with self-reported bodily discomfort (r = 0.36, P = .02). Conclusions/Implications • The participants of the current sample were interested and willing to participate in behavioral interventions but had limited knowledge of the potential for these techniques to manage their symptoms. The reported high level of willingness to participate in behavioral interventions suggests that it is feasible to provide behavioral interventions in this population.