“Anxiety and depression in Parkinson’s disease”

Keywords: Parkinson's disease, anxiety, depression, mood

This dissertation is relevant for patients with Parkinson's disease. As this study reveals, anxiety disorders are extremely common with Parkinson's disease and affect one in three patients. The key factor in developing an anxiety disorder is the presence of depressive symptoms, but situational limitations caused by Parkinson's also plays an important role.  This study investigated the suitability of a mobile application known as the Experience Sampling Method to gain a better understanding of the relationship between motor symptoms (e.g. shaking and stiffness), mood and context.  The Experience Sampling Method appears to be suitable for this purpose and offers plenty of opportunities for future research.