Psychiatric disturbances in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy: a case-control study.

Objectives: To investigate the frequency and the different types of psychiatric disturbances in PSP patients using validated psychiatric instruments.

Methods: We conducted a case-control study using the Structured Clinical Interview (SCID-I) for DSM-IV to investigate psychiatric disorders in 28 PSP patients and 28 age and gender matched healthy controls. PSP severity was scored using the PSP rating scale; cognitive functions were assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment scale and the Frontal Assessment Battery scale.

Results: SCID-I disclosed that psychiatric disturbances were more frequent in PSP patients (53%) than in healthy controls (17.8%) (p = 0.005). Psychiatric disorders in PSP patients were characterized by mood disorders. Depression due to PSP was the most frequent diagnosis and was found in 8 of the 15 patients with depressive disorders. None of the PSP patients had a diagnosis of other SCID-I disorders. No clinical or demographic differences were found when comparing PSP patients with and without psychiatric disturbances.

Conclusions: Psychiatric disturbances, namely depressive disorders, were more frequent in PSP patients than in controls. A thorough evaluation of psychiatric disorders is important to insure appropriate treatment of PSP patients..