Reduction of medication in Parkinson's disease (PD) following subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) has been recognized, but the optimal timing for medication adjustments remains unclear, posing challenges in postoperative patient management.
This study aimed to provide evidence for the timing of medication reduction post-DBS using propensity score matching (PSM).
In this study, initial programming and observation sessions were conducted over 1 week for patients 4–6 weeks postoperatively. Patients were subsequently categorized into medication reduction or non-reduction groups based on their dyskinesia evaluation using the 4.2-item score from the MDS-UPDRS-IV. PSM was employed to maintain baseline comparability. Short-term motor and neuropsychiatric symptom assessments for both groups were conducted 3–6 months postoperatively.
A total of 123 PD patients were included. Baseline balance in motor and non-motor scores was achieved between the two groups based on PSM. Short-term efficacy revealed a significant reduction in depression scores within the non-reduction group compared to baseline (
This study provides evidence for the timing of medication reduction following DBS. Our findings suggest that early maintenance of medication stability is more favorable for improving neuropsychiatric symptoms.