A Comparison of Depression Screening Tools in Parkinson’s Disease and Normal Community Controls Using a Brain and Body Donation Database

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to review and compare a variety of depression inventories in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and normal controls (NC) to look for patterns or trends to help with clinical management of these patients. The study population consisted of subjects enrolled in a brain and body donation program who were receiving annual neurological and neuropsychiatric assessments. Statistical models were applied to the data to compare trends between screening tools, medications, and demographics. The frequency of depression was greater in PD cases than NC across the inventories. The greatest frequency of positive screens came from the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). Because the NPI requires an informant to administer, and had the highest percent of positive screens in both PD and NC groups, this study suggests that a caregiver or partner may be a helpful addition in clinical practice during depression screening in elderly patients with and without PD.