[Practical experience on improving activities of daily living competence in Parkinson's patients treated with ropinirole. Results of a applied study].

Ropinirole is a non-ergot-selective D2 dopamine agonist. Its efficacy, tolerability, and safety have been extensively proven in controlled, double-blind trials. The present prospective, multicentre, postmarketing surveillance study tested whether the results of controlled clinical trials are also valid in routine clinical practice. For evaluation, international rating scales for tremor and activities of daily living were applied in a slightly modified manner. In 172 German centres, 453 parkinsonian patients (272 men, 174 women, average age 67 years) in advanced stages of the disease were treated with ropinirole alone or in combination with L-dopa. Activities of daily living and tremor significantly improved. This is the first prospective study which demonstrates beneficial effects of ropinirole on PD tremor. The dosage of L-dopa could be reduced in 31% of the patients. Side effects were reported in only 7.6%. The results of this postmarketing study corroborate the good clinical efficacy of ropinirole together with high safety under routine clinical conditions.