Outpatient palliative care improves quality of life and other outcomes in patients with Parkinson disease and related disorders, a US study shows.

Researchers compared the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary outpatient palliative-care program integrated with standard care vs that of standard care alone in 210 patients with Parkinson’s disease and related disorders and 175 caregivers.

Quality of life was measured by the Quality of Life in Alzheimer’s Disease scale, which ranges from 13 (poor) to 52 (excellent).

Scores improved in the palliative-care group by 0.7 points, but worsened in the standard-care group by 0.8 points at the end of six months, the researchers reported in JAMA Neurology.