Abu Bakar Siddique, Mohsin Zahir, Adnan Aslam, Ahsan Numan.
Impulse Control Disorder in patients with Parkinson?s Disease Taking Levodopa.
J Fatima Jinnah Med Uni Jan ;11(1):45-7.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of impulse control disorder (ICD) in the patients of Parkinson Disease (PD) taking Levodopa. Methods: This 12 months cross-sectional study was carried out at the Department of Neurology, Services Hospital Lahore and Neuro clinic, Lahore. A total of 125 cases of Parkinson Disease taking Levodopa as treatment with the age of 53 to 71 years were included in the study. They were assessed for four impulse control disorders including craving for sweets, compulsive shopping, compulsive gambling and hypersexuality. Results: The mean age of the patents in this study was found as 61.34 years. The frequency of ICD was found in 17.6% of the patients with PD. The commonest symptom of ICD was hypersexuality in 11.2% followed by craving for sweets in 10.4%, compulsive shopping in 8.8% and compulsive gambling in 8.1%. ICD was almost comparable to that of associated with dopamine agonists like ropinirole and pramipexole. Furthermore, it was more common in males (80%) than in females (20%). Conclusions: Parkinson disease patients taking Levodopa must be screened for impulse control disorder for the proper management, adjustment of doses and combination of other drugs.

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