Parkinson Hastalığı ve Hareket Bozuklukları Dergisi

Hafize LEVENT ÇOTUR1, Esra KISACIK2, M. Cenk AKBOSTANCI1

1Ankara Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Nöroloji Anabilim Dalı, Ankara, Türkiye
2Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi, Psikoloji Bölümü, Sivas, Türkiye

Keywords: Levodopa; panic attack; Parkinson’s disease; wearing off.

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the prevalence of panic attack (PA) in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and the efficiency of levodopa on PA symptoms.

Patients and Methods: The study included 199 patients (124 males, 75 females; mean age 64.9±11.2 years; range 27 to 87 years) diagnosed with PD according to United Kingdom Parkinson’s Disease Society Brain Bank criteria. Patients were administered Wearing-off Questionnaire and Hoehn and Yahr Scale.

Results: Of the Parkinson’s patients, 24.6% (n=49) had PA symptoms. After levodopa administration, 14 patients reported improvement in their symptoms while 35 patients reported that their symptoms did not improve. There was a statistically low but significant correlation between PD stage and presence of PA symptoms.

Conclusion: Panic attack symptoms are common in Parkinson’s patients and prevalence of such symptoms is independent from PD stages. Usage of levodopa may improve PA symptoms in PD.