Thinking beyond tremors – A prospective observational study to evaluate depression and sleep pattern disturbances in patients of idiopathic parkinson's disease

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor and nonmotor symptoms. Neuropsychiatric symptoms include sleep disorders, psychosis, cognitive impairment, depression, and anxiety. Because this neuropsychiatric aspect remains unexplored in such patients, we examined depression and sleep pattern disturbances in such patients. Methodology: All patients with a confirmed PD diagnosis attending an outpatient clinic and a PD support group will participate in this study. After recording the drug name, mechanism of action, frequency and duration of treatment, and examining drug use patterns, patients were assessed on the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D) and the Parkinson's Disease Sleep Scale (PDSS-D). (2) Assess for depression and disturbed sleep patterns. Pearson's correlation test was used for correlations between various variables. Results: Thirty-five patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria were enrolled in the study. The mean ± standard deviation age of the patients was 66.46 ± 9.21 years. A total of 6 single drugs and 4 fixed-dose combinations were prescribed in a span of a mean of 6.53 years. Levodopa + carbidopa (125 mg), followed by pramipexole, is the most prescribed drug among the study population. The mean score of the HAM-D Scale of 35 patients was 23.02. The maximum score was 52. The mean score of the PDSS-2 of 35 patients was 22.8 (out of 60) and there was a weak or moderate correlation between the different variables. Conclusion: Major part of the treatment plan in PD patients was levodopa + carbidopa (125 mg). Out of 35 patients, the majority of them were depressed and it could be one of the reasons for nocturnal disturbances based on PDSS-2 scoring. Furthermore, there was a weak correlation between different variables but it was not statistically significant.