Various nonpharmacologic managements are important fundamental elements in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD). We aimed to investigate the role of telephone counseling in managing PD patients.

From November 2006 to January 2007, we studied 243 PD patients at outpatient clinic of Asan Medical Center. Detailed telephone counseling was provided using a list structured questionnaires.

There were 73 men and 170 women with an age range of 17 to 85 years (mean age, 64.9 years). Mean age at onset was 59.5 years (range, 14–82 years) and mean disease duration was 5.6 years (range, 0.3–25 years). The contents of telephone counseling included adverse effects of anti-Parkinsonian medications (24.4%), aggravation of motor symptoms (18.7%), problems due to comorbidities (17.8%), how to take medicine (13.6%), activities of daily living (diet, bowel, sleeping and safety) (12.6%), complementary or alternative medicines (3.9%) and knowledge about PD (3.0%). Persons who responded to use the telephone counseling included patients (37.9%), offspring (36.2%), spouses (17.7%) and other relatives (7.4%). Persons who received the telephone counseling were determined by level of education, sex, cohabitation and Hoehn-Yahr stage. Contents of telephone counseling varied significantly with Hoehn-Yahr stage and persons who used the telephone counseling.

Our results suggest that support system with telephone counseling may provide beneficial therapeutic intervention in PD patients, especially for those with advanced PD. The most cost-effective method for telephone support needs to be studied.