Specificity of Affective and Autonomic Symptoms of Depression in Parkinson’s Disease

Depression is usually diagnosed through symptoms such as sleep & appetite disturbance but for medically ill patients these symptoms are often too non-specific to diagnose depression. In this study, 2 groups of patients with Parkinson’s werecompared: those who reported depression & those who did not. Depressed patients showed a higher frequency of automatic & affective symptoms. All depression symptoms were higher in the first group except anergia, motor retardation, & early morning awakening. VM