[A study of personality in Parkinson's disease: the influence of motor and non-motor factors].

INTRODUCTION

The literature on Parkinson's disease (PD) has acknowledged the existence of certain characteristic features in the personality and moods of patients which could be caused by the disease or may be a consequence of the functional disability produced by the condition.

AIM

To compare the variables personality, depression, anxiety and cognitive functions between a group of patients with PD and a control group with a similar functional disability.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The study involved a sample made up of 55 patients with PD and 55 patients with rheumatologic or orthopaedic diseases, who were paired by age, sex and functional disability according to the Schwab and England scale. Personality tests (personality questionnaire for adults adapted to the Spanish population, sensation-seeking questionnaire, rigidity questionnaire, coping strategies questionnaire), Hamilton Depression Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and tests for cognitive functions (Minimental and Progressive Matrixes Test).

RESULTS

Patients with PD score significantly higher than control subjects on the Hamilton Depression Scale. No significant differences were found in any of the variables in the three personality tests that were used, on the anxiety scale or in the cognitive functioning tests.

CONCLUSIONS

No differential personality traits were found between our patients and the control subjects, which would therefore not support the existence of a characteristic personality in PD. Our patients with PD show more symptoms of depression than is to be expected in relation to their functional disability, and this could influence the results obtained by other authors in studies on this subject.