An interventional study of Meridian Activation Remedy System for Parkinson's Disease (MARS-PD) in Parkinson Disease, sponsored by Korea Health Industry Development Institute. Completed at 1 site in South Korea. Open to participants aged 45 Years to 75 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-08-05.
Sponsored by Korea Health Industry Development Institute · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
In this study, the investigators aim to evaluate the clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness of MARS-PD. Conventional, usual care will be used as the comparator because this trial aims to assess the add-on effect of MARS-PD. The investigators hypothesize that the complex therapy will relieve motor and nonmotor symptoms, improve gait performance, and enhance neuroplasticity in PD patients, and will be safe and cost-effective.
This study is a randomized controlled trial conducted at a single center with raters blinded to the intervention. We will look at the clinical effect of MARS-PD, consisting of 16 interventions over an 8-week period, in 88 individuals with Parkinson's disease. Patients will be assigned to either the experimental (n=44) or control (n=44) groups at random. he experimental group will receive the MARS intervention, while the control group will receive usual care only. The treatment duration is 8 weeks, followed by a 12-week follow-up. The primary outcome is the change in MDS-UPDRS Part III (Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Part III) score from baseline to 8 weeks. Secondary outcomes include assessments such as MDS-UPDRS, International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form, Parkinson Self Questionnaire, Parkinson's Disease Sleep Scale, Timed Up and Go test, GAITRite metrics, Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy measurements, smart band results, gut microbiome composition and diversity, and iris connective tissue texture.
4,487 studies on the registry are indexed under Parkinson Disease; 1,082 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 88 is above the median of 40 across 3,294 interventional studies indexed under Parkinson Disease.
Browse Parkinson Disease studies →Korea Health Industry Development Institute is the lead sponsor of 10 studies on the registry; none are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
Meridian Activation Remedy System for Parkinson's Disease (MARS-PD) treatment (16 times/8 weeks total, 2 times/week)
Other: Meridian Activation Remedy System for Parkinson's Disease (MARS-PD)
Usual care (all participants will be allowed to continue their prescribed medication and treatment (except Korean Medicine therapy), and they will not receive any additional treatment or therapy in the research institute), and lifestyle advice (all participants will receive a smart band and application-based guidance about their lifestyle)
MARS-PD is a complex therapy developed by researchers to enhance the synergistic effects of acupuncture and exercise.
Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Part Ⅲ
MDS-UPDRS Part Ⅲ (maximum: 132, minimum: 0; higher scores mean a worse outcome)
Time frame: Change from baseline MDS-UPDRS Part Ⅲ score at 8 weeks
Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Part Ⅲ
MDS-UPDRS Part Ⅲ
Time frame: Change from baseline MDS-UPDRS Part Ⅲ score at 4 and 12 weeks
International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form
IPAQ
Time frame: Change from baseline IPAQ score at 4, 8 and 12 weeks
Parkinson Self Questionnaire
Parkinson Self Questionnaire, developed by researchers
Time frame: Change from baseline Parkinson Self Questionnaire results at 4, 8 and 12 weeks
Parkinson's disease Sleep Scale
PDSS
Time frame: Change from baseline PDSS score at 4, 8 and 12 weeks
Timed up and go test
TUG
Time frame: Change from baseline TUG time in seconds at 8 and 12 weeks
GAITRite Electronic Walkway Platinum
GAITRite
Time frame: Change from baseline GAITRite parameters at 8 and 12 weeks
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy
fNIRS
Time frame: Change from baseline fNIRS results at 8 and 12 weeks
Smart band outcomes
Number of steps per day
Time frame: Change from baseline daily steps at 4, 8 and 12 weeks
Iris imaging 1
Visible light image
Time frame: Iris connective tissue texture, baseline
Iris imaging 2
Infrared image
Time frame: Iris connective tissue density, baseline
Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale
MDS-UPDRS
Time frame: Change from baseline MDS-UPDRS score at 4, 8 and 12 weeks
Gut microbiome test
Gut microbiome diversity and composition, fecal samples
Time frame: Change from baseline gut microbiome analysis results at 8 weeks
Plan to share: No
This study is completed, as verified in Jul 2025. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Korea Health Industry Development Institute