Improving Parkinson's Disease Care through Systematic Screening for Depression.

Background: Depression is common in Parkinson's disease (PD) but is underrecognized clinically. Although systematic screening is a recommended strategy to improve depression recognition in primary care practice, it has not been widely used in PD care.

Methods: The 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) was implemented at 5 movement disorders clinics to screen PD patients.