Adaptive Eating Device: Performance and Satisfaction of a Person with Parkinson's Disease.

Background. Individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) can experience motor impairments related to their hand-use that restrict participation in daily activities. Feeding is one activity impacted by this health condition. The use of adapted utensils can improve performance and independence in this activity. Purpose. To investigate if a locally designed and made eating-adaptive device helps a person with PD to improve their feeding performance. Method. Single-case ABC-type experimental design. Performance and satisfaction of a 60-year-old man with PD were assessed during feeding tasks in 70 sequential days in three phases. Celeration Line, Two-Standard Deviation Band, and Visual Analysis were the methods used for data analysis. Findings. Performance and satisfaction increased significantly after the introduction of the adaptive eating device. The addition of weight also contributed to the increase in the participant's performance. Implications. Adaptive eating device with low production costs and possibility of customized adjustments improves performance of people with PD.