Studies from University of Pennsylvania, Department of Psychiatry yield new data on Parkinson disease
2007 NOV 19 -- A report, 'Differences in depression symptoms in patients with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases: evidence from the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15),' is newly published data in International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. "Depression occurs frequently in patients with both Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD), but there has been little comparison of depression symptoms in the two populations The 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) was administered as a depression screening instrument to 232 AD patients and 266 PD specialty care patients with at most mild dementia," researchers in the United States report. "Logistic regression models were used to determine disease-specific associations with individual GDS-15 items, and factor analysis was used to assess GDS-15 factor structure in the two populations Controlling for total GDS-15 score and other covariates, AD patients reported more dissatisfaction with life (p=0.03) and memory problems (p <0.001), while PD patients reported more fearfulness (p=0.01), helplessness (p <0.01), a preference to stay at home (p=0.02), and diminished energy (p <0.01)," wrote D. Weintraub and colleagues, University of Pennsylvania, Department of Psychiatry. The researchers concluded: "Three factors were generated in PD (explaining 55% of the total variance) and five in AD (explaining 59% of the total variance), and the two main factors generated in both populations related primarily to unhappiness and negative thoughts The factor structure of the GDS-15 is similar in AD and PD patients with at most mild stage dementia, but between-group differences on 6 of the GDS-15 items suggests the non-specificity of certain items in the two populations." Weintraub and colleagues published their study in International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry (Differences in depression symptoms in patients with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases: evidence from the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15). International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 2007;22(10):1025-30). For additional information, contact D. Weintraub, University of Pennsylvania, Dept. of Psychiatry, Philadelphia, PA USA.. Publisher contact information for the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry is: John Wiley & Sons Ltd., the Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester PO19 8SQ, W Sussex, England. Keywords: United States, Philadelphia, Alzheimer Disease, Central Nervous System Disease, Geriatric Psychiatry, Parkinson Disease. This article was prepared by Pain & Central Nervous System Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2007, Pain & Central Nervous System Week via NewsRx.com.
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