Objective: Our aim is to determine the prevalence of depression and cognitive impairment (CI) among our PD patients.

Background: Depression and CI are the most disabling non-motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease (PD)¹. For this reason routine screening of these disorders is important for the optimal management of PD patients.

Method: We collected an anonymized dataset in our outpatient center between 15 Nov 2022 and 15 Febr 2023, involving 108 patients with PD. The self-report Beck-II Depression Inventory (BDI-II) for depression, and MoCA test and Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination (ACE) for CI were used to determine the prevalence of these mental disturbances. We collected routine clinical data for explanatory variables². PD patients were categorized 1.) as not having depression and not having CI, 2.) as patients only with depression, 3.) as patients only with CI and 4.) as with both psychiatric co-morbidities. We calculated the mean age of each group, and we also compared the severity of psychiatric symptoms with the duration of the disease.

Results: Our PD patient group (48 women, 60 men, mean age 71.78 years – SD 10.29) had a mean duration of disease of 7.26 years (SD 5.24). Among the ACE-negative, purely depressed 51 patients (47%), mean age was 71.83 years (SD 9.88), mean duration of illness was 6.75 years (SD 4.92). The mean duration of illness for mild depressive disorder (27 patients) was 7.59 years (SD 4.92), for moderate depressive disorder (18 patients) was 6.11 years (SD 3.76), and for major depressive disorder (6 patients) was 4.83 years (SD 3.82). The mean age of  3 patients (3%) with CI but not depression was 79.33 years (SD 5.03), and the mean duration of illness was 13.33 years (SD 5.13). 1 patient had well-detectable CI and 2 patients had definite impairment. The co-presence of CI and depression was detected in 10 patients (9%) with a mean age 79.10 (SD 6.92), mean duration of disease 7.70 years (SD 5.38). 44 patients (41%) had neither CI nor depression with a mean age 69.43 years (SD 10.06), and mean duration of disease of 7.34 years (SD 5.44).

Conclusion: Our prevalence data is consistent with the literature, and confirms that depression worsens cognitive functions, the independent cognitive impairment without depression is more rare³,⁴. We plan to continue this study for a longitudinal cohort research.

References: 1. Rahman S, Griffin HJ, Quinn NP, Jahanshahi M: Quality of life in Parkinson’s disease: the relative importance of the symptoms.
Mov Dis 2008; 23(10):1428-34 doi: 10.1002/mds.21667

2. Lucza T, Karadi K, Kallai J, Weintraut R, Janszky J, Makkos A, Komoly S, Kovacs N:
Screening Mild and Major Neurocognitive Disorders in Parkinson’s Disease.
Behav Neurol 2015; 983606 doi: 10.1155/2015/983606

3. Chendo I, Silva C, Duarte GS, Prada L, Vian J, Quintao A, Voon V, Ferreira JJ: Frequency of Depressive Disorders in Parkinson’s Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
J Parkinsons Dis 2022; 12(5):1409-18 doi: 10.3233/JPD-223207

4. Aarsland D, Taylor JP, Weintraub D: Psychiatric issues in cognitive impairment.
Mov Dis 214; 29(5):651-62 doi: 10.1002/mds.25873

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/prevalence-of-depression-and-cognitive-impairment-in-a-hungarian-parkinsons-disease-center/