Longitudinal analysis of impulse control disorders in Parkinson disease.

Objective: To investigate the longitudinal dose-effect relationship between dopamine replacement therapy and impulse control disorders (ICDs) in Parkinson disease (PD).

Methods: We used data from a multicenter longitudinal cohort of consecutive patients with PD with ≤5 years' disease duration at baseline followed up annually up to 5 years. ICDs were evaluated during face-to-face semistructured interviews with movement disorder specialists. Generalized estimating equations and Poisson models with robust variance were used to study the association between several time-dependent definitions of dopamine agonist (DA) use, taking dose and duration of treatment into account, and ICDs at each visit. Other antiparkinsonian drugs were also examined.

Results: Among 411 patients (40.6% women, mean age 62.3 years, average follow-up 3.3 years, SD 1.7 years), 356 (86.6%) took a DA at least once since disease onset. In 306 patients without ICDs at baseline, the 5-year cumulative incidence of ICDs was 46.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] 37.4-55.7, DA ever users 51.5% [95% CI 41.8-62.1], DA never users 12.4% [95% CI 4.8-30.0]). ICD prevalence increased from 19.7% at baseline to 32.8% after 5 years. ICDs were associated with ever DA use (prevalence ratio 4.23, 95% CI 1.78-10.09). Lifetime average daily dose and duration of treatment were independently associated with ICDs with significant dose-effect relationships. Similar analyses for levodopa were not in favor of a strong association. ICDs progressively resolved after DA discontinuation.

Conclusion: In this longitudinal study of patients with PD characterized by a high prevalence of DA treatment, the 5-year cumulative incidence of ICDs was ≈46%. ICDs were strongly associated with DA use with a dose-effect relationship; both increasing duration and dose were associated with ICDs. ICDs progressively resolved after DA discontinuation.

Clinicaltrialsgov Identifier: NCT01564992.