Prevalence and determinants of depression in Mexican patients with Parkinson's disease

ObjectiveTo assess the prevalence and associated factors of depression in a Mexican Parkinson's disease (PD) population.BackgroundDepressive symptoms are frequent in PD and have been recognized as a major determinant of quality of life. Only two previous studies have partially addressed depression in Mexican PD patients.MethodsOne hundred forty-seven non-demented PD patients were recruited at the movement disorder specialist clinic at the National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Mexico City. The following sociodemographic variables were collected: gender, age, age at onset, disease duration and disease severity in terms of Hoehn and Yahr stage. PDQ-8, NMSQuest and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were applied to all participants.ResultsOne hundred forty-seven patients were included (49.7% female). The mean age of the sample was 62.1 ± 11.7 years, the mean age at diagnosis was 55.8 ± 12.3 and the mean duration of the disease was 6.3 ± 5 years. A total of 49 (33.3%) patients were diagnosed with current depression. Depressed patients also scored higher in the NMSQuest even when depression/anxiety items were excluded. Differences were found in gender, UPDRS III score and HY stage, but after the logistic regression analysis was performed only the NMSQuest score and low education remained as statistically significant factors for depression in Mexican PD patients.ConclusionsDepression prevalence in PD Mexican patients is similar to other international reports. The main associated factor was the presence of non-motor symptoms.