James R. Williams

Pharmacologic Treatment of Anxiety Disorders in Parkinson Disease

OBJECTIVE Neither best practices nor an evidence base for the pharmacologic treatment of anxiety in Parkinson disease (PD) has been established. This study investigated pharmacologic treatment of anxiety disorders in idiopathic PD and the associated clinical features. DESIGN Cross-sectional. SETTING Three community-based movement disorder neurology practices. PARTICIPANTS 250 subjects with PD. MEASUREMENTS Anxiety disorder diagnoses were established by consensus using a panel of six psychiatrists with expertise in geriatric psychiatry and movement disorders. Current medications were provided by the treating neurologists at the time of interview. RESULTS Among subjects with anxiety disorders only, 53% were untreated with medications. When anxious subjects with comorbid depressive disorders were included, 70.8% were on medications effective for treatment of anxiety. Subjects with anxiety and comorbid depressive disorders were more likely to be treated for their psychiatric disturbances than subjects with anxiety disorders alone (odds ratio: 8.33), as were subjects with comorbid motor fluctuations (odds ratio: 3.65). There were no differences in the types of anti-anxiety medications used in regard to the presence of depression or motor fluctuations. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that over half of nondepressed PD patients with clinically significant anxiety are untreated with medication. A better understanding of the role of clinical features associated with anxiety in PD, such as depression and motor fluctuations, may improve the recognition and treatment of anxiety disorders in this population.

Diagnosis pathway for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: retrospective analysis of the US Medicare longitudinal claims database

BackgroundInitial symptoms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are often subtle and can delay diagnosis. This exploratory analysis was conducted to better characterize the pre-diagnosis pathway undertaken by patients with ALS in the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Medicare longitudinal claims database.MethodsQuarterly Medicare claims data were analyzed to determine the pre-diagnosis pathway for an ALS patient cohort that included patients aged ≥ 65 years with ≥ 2 ALS claims (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification code 335.20) between the first quarter of 2007 and the fourth quarter of 2009, and were enrolled in Medicare ≥ 2 years before the first ALS claim (diagnosis). A cohort of Medicare patients without claims for motor neuron diseases were identified for comparison. A subset of these patients with ≥ 3 years of claims data was included in a time to diagnosis analysis. Data extraction included the most common initial symptoms of ALS, the time from first ALS symptom to diagnosis, and the diagnostic procedures performed before the diagnosis of ALS.ResultsA total of 399 patients met the inclusion criteria and were included in the ALS cohort; 272 patients were included in the time to diagnosis cohort. Before the quarter of diagnosis, symptoms that were more frequently seen in the ALS cohort than the general Medicare cohort included muscle weakness, lack of coordination and speech/swallowing difficulties. Limb-onset ALS (74%) was more common than bulbar-onset ALS (17%). Median time to diagnosis for limb- and bulbar-onset patients was 2.5 years and 1.25 years, respectively. The most common tests conducted before the quarter of diagnosis included sensory and motor nerve conduction tests, imaging studies, and electromyography; however, a substantial number of patients did not receive any nerve conduction testing. Motor nerve conduction testing in patients with bulbar-onset ALS had the largest impact on time to diagnosis.ConclusionsThis analysis describes a diagnostic delay for patients with ALS in the US Medicare population, similar to previous reports. The development of tools and ongoing education that can help to identify patients with ALS earlier in their disease course is needed.

Screening for DSM-IV-TR Cognitive Disorder NOS in Parkinson’s disease using the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale

This study explores the utility of the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale (MDRS) as a screening tool for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders 4th edition (DSM‐IV‐TR) diagnosis cognitive disorder not otherwise specified (NOS) in Parkinsons disease (PD).