Impulse control disorders in Chinese Parkinson's disease patients: the effect of ergot derived dopamine agonist

We studied the prevalence and related risk factors of impulse control disorders in Chinese Parkinson's disease patients.

We screened all non-demented Parkinson's disease patients attending our Parkinson's disease clinic from August 2009 to March 2010. The clinical characteristics of patients with impulse control disorders and those without were compared.

Of the 213 PD subjects screened, 15 (7.0%) with impulse control disorders were identified. Fourteen of these subjects were on both a dopamine agonist and Levodopa, and one was on Levodopa alone. Of the fourteen subjects on both a dopamine agonist and Levodopa, eleven were on bromocriptine and Levodopa; 10.5% of the subjects exposed to bromocriptine had impulse control disorder. Upon multivariate analysis, dose of dopamine agonist used, young age at onset of Parkinson's disease and a history of anxiety or depression were independent predictors for developing impulse control disorders.

7% of our Chinese PD subjects had impulse control disorders. When young Parkinson's disease patients with a history of anxiety or depression are treated with high dose of DA, they are at risk of developing impulse control disorders.