Impulse control behaviours in a Malaysian Parkinson’s disease population

• Main Authors: Md. Rani, Shahrul Azmin, Tan, Eng Liang, Nik Jaafar, Nik Ruzyanei, Zakaria, Hazli, Mohammed Nawi, Azmawati, Law, Zhe Kang, Remli, Rabani, Wan Yahya, Nafisah, Ramesh, Sahathevan, Tan, Hui Jan, Mohamad Pakarul Razy, Nur Fadhlina, Abdul Murad, Nor Azian, Ling, King Hwa, Mohamed Ibrahim, Norlinah
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: ASEAN Neurological Association 2016
• Online Access: http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/54527/1/Impulse%20control%20behaviours%20in%20a%20Malaysian%20Parkinson%E2%80%99s%20disease%20population.pdf; http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/54527/; https://www.neurology-asia.org/articles.php

Background: Impulse control behaviours are repetitive and excessive activities that may be sub-syndromal and not fulfill the criteria for impulse control disorder. These activities have potential to negatively impact on the daily lives of sufferers. We conducted a study to investigate the prevalence of impulse control behaviors and its associated features in Parkinson’s disease in our population. Methods: We conducted a prospective cross-sectional study on consecutive patients attending neurology clinic. Inclusion criteria include idiopathic Parkinson’s disease patients with Hoehn & Yahr stage I-IV. Eighty patients were enrolled and screened for impulse control behaviors using the Questionnaire for Impulsive-Compulsive Disorder for Parkinson’s disease (QUIP). Results: Prevalence of impulse control behaviors among our cohort was 11.3%; the features significantly associated with it were higher level of education (p=0.02), advanced stage of disease (p=0.03) and higher levodopa dosage (p= 0.01). The commonest impulse control behavior in our cohort was compulsive medication use (7.5%), followed by hobbyism (6.3%), hypersexuality (5%), compulsive buying (3.75%), punding (2.5%), walkabout (2.5%), compulsive eating (1.25%) and pathological gambling (1.3%). Conclusions: There is an association between impulse control behavior and higher levodopa dosage in a study on patients with Parkinson’s disease in Malaysia. We also found a low prevalence of pathological gambling as compared to studies performed in the West.