Despite a 40% prevalence of depression in idiopathic Parkinson's disease
(PD), an extensive literature search found only 12 controlled studies of
treatment efficacy. A meta-analysis of these was performed in pursuit of
guidelines for pharmacological treatment. Articles were scored on a scale
from 0 to 100 on a specially adapted list of methodological criteria. Only
4 articles scored more than 50 points, and these generally did not use
depression rating scales. Thus, there are virtually no empirical data on
the treatment of depression in PD. Further studies are urgently needed,
both for the sake of patient care and to gain a better understanding of the
pathophysiological mechanisms underlying depression in PD and the
interrelation between depression and cognitive decline.Abstract Teaser