Pathological gambling associated with dopamine agonist therapy in Parkinson’s disease

Risk factors associated with pathologic gambling include male sex, age (25 to 29 years), comorbid psychiatric disorders, suicide, and lower socioeconomic status.1 In addition, some authors report significant increases in both casino gambling and single-day money losses within a year after the introduction of readily available casinos.2 The prevalence of this condition is unknown in patients with Parkinson disease (PD).3 Some authors suggest that these symptoms may be related to high dose dopaminergic therapy, especially in subjects prone to poorly regulated, self-medicating behaviors.4-7⇓⇓⇓ We report nine patients with pathologic gambling associated with chronic high dose dopamine agonist (DA) therapy. A retrospective database review of all patients with PD seen at the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Research Center (MAPRC) from May 1, 1999, to April 30, 2000, was performed for pathologic gambling. Specific data collected included subject age, sex, race, duration of disease, Hoehn and Yahr stage (H&Y), Unified …