Impulse control disorders in Parkinson’s disease: a retrospective analysis of 1824 patients in a 12-year period

Objective This study aims to clinically evaluate the impulse control disorders (ICDs) encountered in treating Parkinson’s disease. Method This is a retrospective analysis between 2010 and 2022. We retrieved the medical records of all patients diagnosed with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease. The demographic and clinical findings were recorded. ICDs constituted a specific item in the examination, and each one (compulsive shopping, compulsive eating, pathological gambling, hypersexuality, punding, dopamine dysregulation syndrome, and hobbyism) was noted separately. Results In the study period, we identified 1824 patients (56.2% men, n = 1025). The mean age was 70.5 ± 11.9 years. In the cohort, 128 (7%) patients with Parkinson’s disease had one or more ICDs. The ICDs were compulsive shopping, punding/hobbyism, compulsive eating, hypersexuality, pathological gambling, and dopamine dysregulation syndrome. When we compared patients with and without ICDs, patients with ICDs were younger ( p ≤ 0.001), and the men/women ratio was higher in this group with ICDs. Although the mean daily pramipexole dose was higher in patients with ICDs, mean daily long-acting pramipexole dose was only 1.4 ± 0.92 mg/day. Conclusion The significant findings in this study were (i) the lower frequency of ICDs (7%); (ii) the common occurrence of compulsive shopping, punding/hobbyism, and compulsive eating; and (iii) the development of ICDs under relatively lower doses of pramipexole. We suggest that ICDs in Parkinson’s disease should be associated with a personal trait with dopamine agonists, and potential electrophysiological or genetic markers of this trait warrant further analysis to avoid treatment in these patients.