Objective: To test the effects of a novel cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)-based intervention delivered by a nurse therapist to patients with Parkinson disease (PD) with clinically significant impulse control behaviors (ICB).Methods: This was a randomized controlled trial comparing up to 12 sessions of a CBT-based intervention compared to a waiting list control condition with standard medical care (SMC). A total of 27 patients were randomized to the intervention and 17 to the waiting list. Patients with a Mini-Mental State Examination score of ,24 were excluded. The coprimary outcomes were overall symptom severity and neuropsychiatric disturbances in the patients and carer burden and distress after 6 months. Secondary outcome measures included depression and anxiety, marital satisfaction, and work and social adjustment in patients plus general psychiatric morbidity and marital satisfaction in carers.Results: There was a significant improvement in global symptom severity in the CBT intervention group vs controls, from a mean score consistent with moderate to one of mild illness-related symptoms (x 2 5 16.46, p , 0.001). Neuropsychiatric disturbances also improved significantly (p 5 0.03), as did levels of anxiety and depression and adjustment. Measures of carer burden and distress showed changes in the desired direction in the intervention group but did not change significantly. General psychiatric morbidity did improve significantly in the carers of patients given CBT.Conclusions: This CBT-based intervention is the first to show efficacy in ICB related to PD in terms of patient outcomes. The hoped-for alleviation of carer burden was not observed. The study demonstrates the feasibility and potential benefit of a psychosocial treatment approach for these disturbances at least in the short term, and encourages further larger-scale clinical trials.

Objectives-To determine the prevalence of psychotic phenomena, including minor symptoms, in a Parkinson's disease (PD) sample and compare the clinical correlates associated with the various psychotic phenomena. To evaluate the extent to which cases met NINDS/NIMH proposed criteria for PD-associated psychosis.Methods-250 patients with idiopathic PD and MMSE>23 from three community-based movement disorder clinics underwent comprehensive research diagnostic evaluations by a geriatric psychiatrist as part of a study on mood disorders in PD. Psychotic symptoms were categorized using a checklist, which included a breakdown of hallucinations, delusions and minor symptoms. Clinical characteristics of groups with minor and other psychotic symptoms were compared. The NINDS/NIMH criteria for PD-psychosis were retrospectively applied.Results-Of the total sample, 26% of patients were found to have any current psychotic symptoms, with 47.7% of those having isolated minor symptoms, and 52.3% having hallucinations and/or delusions. Compared to those with no current psychiatric symptoms, minor symptoms were associated with more depressive symptoms and worse quality of life. 90.8% of those with psychotic symptoms fulfilled the NINDS/NIMH proposed criteria.Conclusions-Psychotic symptoms are common in PD patients, with minor psychotic phenomena present in nearly half of affected patients in a community-based sample. Psychotic symptoms, including minor phenomena, were clinically significant. The NINDS/NIMH PD- Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. ObjectivesPatients with Parkinson's disease (PD) commonly experience neuropsychiatric symptoms [1,2]. Psychotic symptoms are especially prevalent, and are associated with greater physical disability, cognitive and affective dysfunction, caregiver distress, nursing home placement, and mortality [3][4][5]. However, the temporal and clinical profile of psychosis in PD is different from other psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia or mood disorders with psychotic features. Therefore, definitions and schemas applied to other psychiatric illnesses have limited utility for describing and quantifying the scope of psychotic phenomena in PD.Psychotic symptoms in PD include hallucinations and delusions, which define psychosis typically. There are also atypical symptoms, referred to as minor psychotic phenomena, which include sense of presence, passage hallucinations, and illusions (see Appendix). Furthermore, hallucinations are usually visual, although other sensory modalities can be involved. Cross-sectional prevalence estimates indicat...

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