Objective: To examine relationships among gender, care models, and presence and management of neuropsychiatric symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Background: Neuropsychiatric symptoms such as depression and psychosis frequently affect people with PD. Improved recognition, management, and care delivery for these symptoms is critical to optimize the lives of people with PD and their care partners.

Method: We analyzed data from the Parkinson’s Outcome Project (POP, formerly PF-QII) and Centers of Excellence (COE) programs of the Parkinson’s Foundation. We determined frequencies and summary statistics for PD participants who were identified with depression or psychosis, referred to a psychologist or psychiatrist, and receiving antipsychotic or antidepressant medication. We examined differences in symptom presence and management by gender and also by COE care model: allied health and center team providers working as 1) within the same institution (“all-in-one”), 2) within different but affiliated institutions (“affiliate”), and 3) for different and separate institutions (“independent”).

Results: A total of 5311 participants were included in the gender comparison; among them, 4073 were from 22 COEs for whom care model data was available (“all-in-one, n=11 centers, “affiliate,” n=9, and “independent,” n=2). More women than men were identified as having depression (37.9% vs 31.5%), receiving treatment for depression (28.0% vs 20.6%) with antidepressant medications (40.7% vs. 32.3%), and reporting limited activities due to depression (13.9% vs 9.2%) (all p’s < 0.0001). In contrast, there were no significant differences in men and women with respect to having psychosis, taking antipsychotic medications, or seeing a psychologist or psychiatrist. Compared to the “all-in-one” and “affiliate” models, PD participants from the “independent” model were significantly less likely to be referred to psychologist and more likely to be hospitalized due to neuropsychiatric symptoms (all p’s < 0.0001).

Conclusion: While both neuropsychiatric symptoms, depression and psychosis are experienced and treated differently depending on gender. In addition, type of care model can impact mental health referrals and hospitalization rates. These findings demonstrate the need to expand our understanding of how gender affects care and outcomes for women with PD.

« Back to 2019 International Congress

MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/relationships-of-gender-care-models-and-neuropsychiatric-symptoms-in-parkinsons-disease/