Anxiety in Parkinson's: Use of Quantitative Methods to Guide Rational Treatment

Anxiety in Parkinson's: Use of Quantitative Methods to Guide Rational Treatment

This study will evaluate the effectiveness of the rotigotine transdermal patch in reducing anxiety in people with Parkinson's disease.

Anxiety is a serious medical condition that worsens quality of life by negatively affecting peoples thoughts, feelings, and ability to function normally. Anxiety can affect anyone, but people with Parkinson's appear to be at a much higher risk with an estimated 40% or more suffering from anxiety. Parkinson's is a neurological disorder that causes tremor and other problems with normal movements. The disease symptoms are believed to be caused in large part by the loss of dopamine producing cells in the midbrain. Anxiety in Parkinson's may be associated with the loss of dopamine caused by the disease and therefore may respond to dopamine based treatments. This study will evaluate the effectiveness of the rotigotine transdermal patch, a dopamine replacement medication, in reducing symptoms of anxiety in people with Parkinson's disease.

Participants in this double-blind study will be randomly assigned to receive either rotigotine or a placebo patch for 8-weeks. All participants will be evaluated at the study site at baseline and weeks 2, 4, and 8. Psychiatric, cognitive, and movement assessments will be performed along with a review of anxiety symptoms. All participants will be offered continued routine psychiatric care with the study physician upon completion of the study.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosis of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) 5 Anxiety Disorder
• Stable medical history and general health
• On stable anti-parkinsonian therapy for 2 weeks before enrollment

Exclusion Criteria:

• Unstable medical disease of comorbid psychiatric disease
• Dementia
• Subjects with less than one year duration of Parkinson's
• Current treatment with a dopamine agonist