The prevalence and correlates of neuropsychiatric symptoms in a population with Parkinson's disease in Mexico

Objective: To study the incidence of behavioral abnormalities in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and extend them to a Mexican population. Background: Reports from the US and Europe suggest depression, anxiety, and apathy occur with increased frequency in PD, but data on the occurrence of neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with PD in Latin America are lacking. Methods: The investigators performed a cross-sectional survey of psychiatric symptoms and cognitive status in 40 patients with PD and 83 controls in Mexico City. Results: Results were compared between groups and correlations sought between symptoms and disease variables. Patients with PD had a higher rate of dysphoria, anxiety, and apathy (p < 0.001). Within the patients, with PD, there was a positive correlation between disease severity (rho = 0.496), age (rho 0.340), and degree of self-rated depression. Conclusions: This study confirmed the observation previously described in other PD populations of increased rates of dysphoria, anxiety, and apathy in Mexican patients with PD. We found no relation between disease duration, severity, cognitive impairment, and neuropsychiatric symptoms as measured on the Neuropsychiatric Inventory, possibly a result of the relative lack of advanced cases in our population.