Depression in Parkinson's Disease

This study investigated the severity of depression in patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) and explored relationships between depression and duration, stage, cognitive status and impairment in daily functioning. Also, depression in PD patients was studied with respect to age at onset of disease, stage and gender. Forty patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) who did not have dementia (MMSE cut-off > 23) were evaluated with the Geriatric Depression Scale. Subjects showed a high frequency of depression with 52.5 % severely depressed and 37.5% mild to moderately depressed. Severely depressed patients were significantly more impaired in their functioning of daily activities as compared to the mildly depressed group. Depression in these patients did not correlate significantly with duration of illness. However, stage of disease, global cognitive functioning and functional capacity were significantly related with depression. Patients with severe stage of PD had significantly higher means on depression than those having moderate disease. No gender differences were found for any of the study variables. These results have implications for development of interventions for persons with PD and their families.