Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative movement disease affecting over 6 million people worldwide. Loss of dopamine-producing neurons results in a range of both motor and non-motor symptoms, however there is currently no definitive test for PD by non-specialist clinicians, especially in the early disease stages where the symptoms may be subtle and poorly characterised. This results in a high misdiagnosis rate (up to 25% by non-specialists) and people can have the disease for many years before diagnosis. There is a need for a more accurate, objective means of early detection, ideally one which can be used by individuals in their home setting. In this investigation, keystroke timing information from 103 subjects (comprising 32 with mild PD severity and the remainder non-PD controls) was captured as they typed on a computer keyboard over an extended period and showed that PD affects various characteristics of hand and finger movement and that these can be detected. A novel methodology was used to classify the subjects’ disease status, by utilising a combination of many keystroke features which were analysed by an ensemble of machine learning classification models. When applied to two separate participant groups, this approach was able to successfully discriminate between early-PD subjects and controls with 96% sensitivity, 97% specificity and an AUC of 0.98. The technique does not require any specialised equipment or medical supervision, and does not rely on the experience and skill of the practitioner. Regarding more general application, it currently does not incorporate a second cardinal disease symptom, so may not differentiate PD from similar movement-related disorders.

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Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative movement disease affecting over 6 million people worldwide. Current diagnosis is based on clinical and observational criteria only, resulting in a high misdiagnosis rate. Approximately 75% of people with PD have hand tremor, which can precede clinical diagnosis by up to 6 years. Previous studies have shown that early PD can be accurately detected from keystroke features while typing, and this study investigated whether tremor can be detected as well. Typing data from 76 subjects, with and without PD, including 27 with PD and 15 with tremor, was analysed and showed that hand tremor in PD can be detected from keystroke features. This novel technique has not been used before and was able to achieve an overall sensitivity of 67% and a specificity of 80% and was also able to differentiate PD tremor from essential tremor. This means that the diagnosis of early PD through typing can achieve the clinical requirement of at least two cardinal features being present (bradykinesia and tremor). Less than half a page of typing is needed, the technique does not require any specialised equipment, and can take place in the patient's home as they type normally on a computer.