Study on anxiety in patients with Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate anxiety in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Patients and method: We studied a group of 37 non-demented patients with Parkinson’s disease, 17 women and 20 men, aged between 50 and 70 years. Sixteen patients were in stage I and 21 patients in stage II of the disease on Hoehn-Yahr Scale. The patients were treated either with dopaminergic agonists or with levo-dopa associated with dopaminergic agonists. To assess the symptoms of anxiety we performed to each patient The Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and The Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale. For the depressive disorders we also performed The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. The results were analyzed by Student’s Test and Chi-Square Test. Results: Twelve patients (32,4%) had anxiety disorders: generalized anxiety (5 patients), panic attack (2 patients), social phobia (one patient) and unspecified anxiety disorder (4 patients). The association between anxiety and depression was found in 7 patients (48,3%). The anxiety appeared especially in the patients with left sided motor symptoms. Conclusion: Anxiety seems to appear frequently in the patients with Parkinson’s disease but we need more data to clarify its impact on the course and the treatment of the disease.

Keywords

• anxiety
• parkinson’s disease