2019 Volume 36 Issue 3 Pages 317-320
Objective
Some of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) have experienced excessive daytime sleepiness. It is reported that the anti–parkinsonian drugs is one of risk factors of excessive daytime sleepiness, we, therefore, investigated the association between anti–parkinsonian drugs and daytime sleepiness with PD patients.
Methods
PD patients who visited our clinic were studied. PD patients were interviewed on daytime sleepiness using Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and experience of sudden onset sleep by neurologists and a trained nurse.
Results
ESS score correlated with the disease duration, PD severity and the dosage of anti–parkinsonian drugs positively. PD patients using non–ergot and ergot dopamine agonist (DA) had higher ESS score than those without DA. There was no difference in ESS score between PD patients treated with non–ergot DA and ergot DA. PD patients with experience of sudden onset sleep had higher ESS score than those without it.
Conclusions
Not only non–ergot DA but also the other anti–Parkinsonian drugs cause sudden onset sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness. It is important to check the presence of sudden onset sleep regardless of any kind of anti–parkinsonian drugs. It was suggested that ESS score could become an important indicator of sudden onset sleep.
