Previous studies investigating the risk of suicide in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) reported conflicting results. A high proportion of patients with PD suffer from depression; the presence of depression and motor disability may increase the risk of suicidal ideation. Suicidal ideation is frequently associated with perceived disability, with hopelessness and with personality traits and affective temperaments. This study will evaluate suicide risk and suicidal ideation in PD patients and their relationship with motor and non motor parkinsonian symptoms as well as with a number of psychological variables, including perceived disability, hopelessness and affective temperaments in PD. One-hundred PD patients will be included in the study. The diagnosis of PD will be based on clinical criteria. Exclusion criteria will be the presence of a Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score lower than 24 or a Frontal Assessment Battery score lower than 12. All patients will undergo a neurological and a psychiatric evaluation. The neurological evaluation will include the administration of standardized clinical scales to assess motor and non-motor symptoms of PD patients. The psychiatric evaluation will include the administration of the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale, the Italian Perceived Disability Scale, the Beck Hopelessness Inventory and the TEMPS-A questionnaire. The results will be compared with those of a control group of 100 patients affected by another chronic disease, i.e. open angle glaucoma.
The present project will provide relevant insights in understanding whether suicide risk is increased in PD and will clarify the relationship between the suicidal ideation and motor, non motor and psychological features of PD patients.
This is the first study in which suicidal ideation in PD will be compared with a non-psychiatric chronic disease. The decision to compare PD patients with a control group suffering from a different chronic medical condition will allow us to evaluate the psychological impact of two medical conditions with a different symptomatology and level of disability. By using a reliable suicide assessment instrument as well as a control group, we will fill in some of the gaps in knowledge left by previous studies (Kummer et al., 2009; Mainio et al., 2009; Stenager et al., 1994).
By investigating a wide spectrum of clinical factors, including motor/non motor symptoms and psychological features of PD patients, it will be possible to determine the risk factors for suicide in PD. This project will allow to introduce new strategies to prevent suicide in PD.