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Subthreshold depression in Parkinson's disease
Author(s) -
Nation Daniel A.,
Katzen Heather L.,
Papapetropoulos Spyridon,
Scanlon Blake K.,
Levin Bonnie E.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
international journal of geriatric psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.28
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1166
pISSN - 0885-6230
DOI - 10.1002/gps.2199
Subject(s) - depression (economics) , mood , parkinson's disease , disease , medicine , psychiatry , psychology , economics , macroeconomics
Abstract Objective It is estimated that 40% of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) are clinically depressed, however, little is known about the frequency and associated features of subthreshold depression in PD. The current study sought to determine the prevalence of subthreshold depression (sD) and to further characterize the associated features in a sample of 111 nondemented patients with moderate to severe PD. Methods Patients were classified into the following groups: diagnostic depression (DD), subthreshold depression (sD), or nondepressed (ND) by applying the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 4th edn criteria for depression and previously reported criteria for sD to items from the Beck Depression Inventory, 2nd edn. These groups were compared on clinical and demographic variables. The symptom profile of the sD group is also described. Results Fifty participants (45.0%) were classified as ND, 32 (28.8%) as sD, and 29 (26.1%) as DD. Patients with sD were younger (∼5 yrs) than nondepressed patients, but did not differ in disease stage or any other demographic variables. Patients with sD tended to endorse mood symptoms that overlap with PD, including fatigue, sleep difficulties, appetite dysfunction, and concentration difficulties. These symptoms were also endorsed with high frequency by the other groups. Conclusions These findings suggest that sD is not uncommon in PD and may be more prevalent among younger patients. The finding that sD patients report mood symptoms that overlap with the PD symptomatology suggests that these two entities share common features and may be difficult to disentangle. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.