Consultation-liaison approach for the management of psychiatric manifestations in Parkinson′s disease and related disorders: A report from Neuropsychiatric Hospital, India

• Published in: Indian journal of psychological medicine 2014-01, Vol.36 (2), p.134-137
• Main Authors: Harish Thippeswamy, Biju Viswanath, Girish N Babu, V Senthil K. Reddi, Santosh K Chaturvedi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Depression; liaison psychiatry; Parkinson′s disease
• ISSN: 0253-7176
• DOI: 10.4103/0253-7176.130971

Background: Non-motor psychiatric manifestations of Parkinson′s disease have been increasingly noted to contribute to morbidity and mortality. Materials and Methods: We studied the psychiatric manifestations among inpatients with Parkinson′s disease and other movement disorders by examining the referrals (N = 127) to consultation-liaison psychiatry services from neurology/neurosurgery between July 2009 and April 2010 using structured clinical proforma. Results: Parkinson′s disease and other movement disorders was the most common neurological diagnosis (19%). The most common reason for referral was depression (38%) followed by behavioral problems (33%). Post-assessment, depression rates were higher (54%) and behavioral manifestations were diagnosed as sleep problems (13%), organic psychiatric syndrome (13%), psychosis (8%), anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder (8%), nil psychiatry (4%). Conclusion: Psychiatric comorbidity is high among in-patients with movement disorders and affective changes are common. Timely assessment using structured clinical proforma would help in enhanced detection of depression in patients with movement disorders.