Lifestyle and Parkinson’s Disease Longitudinal Study (LPLS)

The Lifestyle and Parkinson’s Disease Longitudinal Study (LPLS) is a multi-year project at Concordia University Irvine assessing how a wide range of personal lifestyle choices—from diet to exercise—impact the progression of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) among people with Parkinson’s living near Orange County. We serve more than 100 participants every summer who volunteer to let us measure their disease state, physical fitness, psychological and cognitive health, and lifestyle habits. Their data contributes to what is one of the most comprehensive databases of lifestyle and PD progression in people diagnosed with the disease and allows our researchers and partners to investigate a wide range of questions relating to:

• Non-pharmaceutical symptom management
• The effects of exercise, medication, and diet on quality of life for people with PD
• Exciting new technology for assessing PD at home and in the clinic
• And much more!

All our participants receive personalized health reports that present and explain their data. Participants may share these reports with their physicians, and each measurement includes interpretation and citations.

Every summer, ~20 undergraduate research assistants conduct data collection, gaining valuable skills with clinical human subjects research and learning about movement disorders.

The LPLS is approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Concordia University Irvine (#6070).

Questions? Email us at [email protected]. If you’re diagnosed with PD and want to participate, click the link below to sign up for this summer.

Who is eligible to participate?

We welcome anyone with a physician’s diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease to participate in the study. Participants must be able to physically attend data collection at 1530 Concordia W, Irvine, CA 92612 for ~3 hours, once a summer for at least one summer, and to complete basic physical movements like standing, sitting and walking. Participants are under no obligation to return for subsequent years, but it is highly encouraged.

What to expect as a participant? (Measures & Movements)

Data collection happens once a summer and lasts for ~3 hours. The measurements involve interviews, surveys, and simple movements of daily life such as walking, sitting and standing. To learn more about the measurements, visit the What to Expect as a Participant? dropdown.

Health Report

Our health reports are meant to give participants a comprehensive look at their data that they can share with their movement disorder specialist or general practitioner. Visit the Health Report dropdown to learn more.

Contact Us!

Email us at [email protected]

Every year you participate in the Lifestyle and Parkinson’s Disease Longitudinal Study (LPLS), you receive a personalized health report detailing your results from the study. Our goal is to create something that participants can use to take control of their personal journey with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) by empowering them with data. Our health reports explain your numbers and put them in the context of other people your sex and age to aid with interpretation. The value of your health report increases with each year you participate, allowing you to see change over time. The last section of your health report is a References Guide that includes tables of normative data and the original research citation for the measurement, a starting point for conversations with your physician. Questions about your health report? Email us at [email protected].

Sample Health Report

Our data collection appointments are once a year during the summer at our campus in Irvine, CA. Appointments last ~3 hours, and during the appointment, you will be asked to complete surveys, sit, stand and walk, and answer questions. Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is multifaceted and touches nearly every aspect of life, from physical to emotional. The goal of LPLS is to capture a holistic picture of how PD affects your life enabling more nuanced approaches to studying the disease. Accordingly, our measurements assess a wide range of variables. Read on to learn more about them.

To see an example of the personalized health report you will receive after data collection, check out the page on health reports.

Physical Tests

• MDS Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) – I, II, III, IV
  • The UPDRS-III is the gold-standard assessment of motor progression. The researcher will ask you to perform a series of simple movements commonly used to assess PD—like finger-tapping, sitting and standing, and walking on a flat surface. The score allows year-to-year comparisons of motor symptom progression.
• Timed Up and Go (TUG)
  • The TUG is a simple assessment of your ability to rise from a chair and walk. The researcher will ask you to stand, walk around a cone, and return to your seat. The TUG will be repeated with an added cognitive task (such as counting aloud) to see the impact on movement ability.
• Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB)
  • The SPPB is a short, commonly used assessment of lower-body function and balance. Participants will be asked to perform a series of movements and poses, like walking a certain distance or standing with their feet together.
• Figure-of-Eight (FO8) Walk Test
  • The FO8 Walk Test is a measure of walking ability in older adults that has been specifically validated for Parkinson’s Disease. Participants will be asked to walk in a figure-of-eight shape around a pair of cones.
• 400m Walk Test
  • The 400m Walk Test is a test of cardiovascular fitness in older adults. Participants will be asked to walk around a pair of cones on a flat surface.
• Handgrip Strength
  • Handgrip strength is assessed using a special device called a digital dynamometer that the participant squeezes to determine maximum grip force.

Biometrics

• Body Composition
  • Body Composition refers to the proportion of your body mass that is made up of different components, like muscle, bone, fat and water. We assess body composition using a bioelectrical impedance device that the participants stand on while holding two electrode handles.
• Central Blood Pressure
  • Your blood pressure is different at different parts of your body. Normally, your blood pressure is measured at the brachial artery in your arm. Our central blood pressure device uses a standard arm cuff that gathers highly precise waveform data to estimate your blood pressure at your aorta, the large vessel leaving your heart. Research suggests that central blood pressure is more predictive of cardiovascular health than standard, peripheral blood pressure measurements.

Surveys and Interviews

• MDS Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) – I, II, IV
  • The UPDRS-I, II and IV assessments use a combination of clinical interviews and surveys to assess the progression of non-motor symptoms, activities of daily living, and medication complications.
• Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)
  • The MoCA is a commonly used assessment of cognitive ability.
• PD History and Demographics and Lifestyle*
• PDQ-39*
• Profile of Mood States (POMS)*
• Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)*
• Center for Epidemiological Studies Scale of Depression (CESD)*
• Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL)*

*Participants can complete these paper surveys on-site, or take them home and mail them back to us using pre-paid envelopes.

LPLS Presentations

October 2026: International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders (Seoul, South Korea)
Nathan F. Meier, Oliver Di Martino. Validation of an Objective Parkinson’s Disease Digital Assessment Tool in Individuals with PD and Healthy Controls
Emma Nguyen, Srinjoy Maji, Brandon S. Klinedinst & Nathan F. Meier. Polypharmacy and its Impact in Individuals with Parkinson’s Disease: Theory- and Data-Driven Approaches
Makena Messing & Nathan F. Meier. The Association Between Gastrointestinal Dysfunction and Psychological Health in Individuals with Parkinson’s Disease
Gabrielle Reinking, Nathan F. Meier & Eun-Jeong Lee. Quantitative Assessment of Turning Kinematics and Its Association with Parkinson’s Disease Severity

October 2025: International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders (Honolulu, HI, USA)
Ira Chaturvedi, Oliver Di Martino, Nathan F. Meier. Exploratory Longitudinal Analysis of Lifestyle and Parkinson’s Disease Symptomatology [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2025.

October 2024: International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders (Philadelphia, PA, USA)
O. Di Martino, N. Meier, S. Shafer, B. Stewart-Burger. Exploratory Cross-Sectional Analysis of Lifestyle and Parkinson’s Disease Symptomatology [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2024; 39 (suppl 1). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/exploratory-cross-sectional-analysis-of-lifestyle-and-parkinsons-disease-symptomatology/.

December 2023: Integrative Biology / Biochemistry, Biophysics & Structural Biology Honors, University of California Berkeley (Berkeley, CA, USA)
Daniella Tarvaran, Oliver Di Martino, Hannah Kim, Nathan F. Meier. The Association of Physical Activity, Fitness, and Sedentary Behavior on Parkinson’s Disease Symptomatology.

LPLS Publications

O. Di Martino, N. Meier, A. Smiley, K. Lowry, C. Wang. Exploratory Cross-Sectional Analysis of Lifestyle and Parkinson’s Disease Symptomatology. Target Journal to be determined.