Attitudes regarding the etiology and treatment of depression in Parkinson's disease: a qualitative study
Open accessAbstract
Depression in Parkinson's disease (dPD) remains under recognized and under treated. As patients' beliefs may impact the reporting and treatment of depression, this study assessed the opinions of 38 dPD patients, approximately half with a self-reported poor response to antidepressant treatment, regarding the etiology and treatment of their depression using a semi-structured, audio-taped, qualitative interview. About half of the participants listed PD itself as a primary cause for their depressive symptoms, with most in this group citing psychosocial factors rather than PD-related neurobiological factors. Antidepressant therapy, psychotherapy, and self-initiated approaches were noted as preferred treatments for dPD. Many had concerns about antidepressant therapy, listing side-effects and medication dependency most frequently. About half raised concerns about psychotherapy with trust/discomfort, stigma, and transportation issues most frequently mentioned. This preliminary study suggests that many PD patients with clinically significant depressive symptoms attribute their depression to psychosocial factors and endorse nonpharmacologic treatment approaches.
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The most frequent indications for psychotropic prescribing were depression in nine studies, sleeping disorders in seven and anxiety in six.
“The most frequent indications for psychotropic prescribing were depression in nine studies [50, 51, 55, 56, 60, 62, 73, 74, 82], sleeping disorders in seven [54–56, 59, 63, 74, 82] and anxiety in six [54–56, 73, 74, 82].”
From Stakeholders' views on the use of psychotropic medication in older people: a systematic review (2022) · cites this paper as [73]
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- Authors
- Oehlberg, K., Barg, F. K., Brown, G. K., Taraborelli, D., Stern, M. B., & Weintraub, D.
- Affiliations
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Philadelphia VA Medical Center (US)
- Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Centers (US)
- Corresponding author
- Weintraub, Daniel
- Venue
- Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2008-06
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 123-132
- ISSN
- 0891-9887 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-5708
- PMC
- PMC2680384
- OpenAlex
- W2016959790
- Cited by
- 53
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 1.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Mental Health (K23MH067894)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Parkinson's Disease Mechanisms and Treatments
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Neurological disorders and treatments
- Keywords
- depression in Parkinson's disease, patient beliefs, etiology of depression, antidepressant treatment, treatment preferences, psychosocial factors, antidepressant side effects, stigma
- MeSH terms
- Activities of Daily Living, Aged, Antidepressive Agents, Attitude to Health, Choice Behavior, Culture, Major Depressive Disorder, Depressive Disorder, Major, Disability Evaluation, Female, Humans, Internal-External Control, Interview, Psychological, Male, Mass Screening, Mental Status Schedule, Middle Aged, Parkinson Disease, Personality Inventory, Psychotherapy, Referral and Consultation, Self Care, Sick Role, Comorbidity, Treatment Outcome, Self Efficacy
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