The focus of Parkinson's disease management has shifted towards the non-motor aspects of the disease. Mental health issues are becoming increasingly recognised in Parkinson's disease but there is a dearth of information regarding prevalence rates of mental health disorders in a large population of Parkinson's disease patients.

We aimed to investigate the prevalence of mental disorders in Parkinson's disease patients by developing a database with 254,702 patients from all our hospital admissions since the year 2000.

Out of 254,702 patients over the 7 years there were 1126 cases of Parkinson's disease, mean age 76.2 years ± 12.0. The mean duration of stay was 8.4 days. Of the mental disorders, Dementia was the commonest with 82 cases (7.3%) followed by Depression 2.6%, Schizophrenia 1%, Eating disorders 0.7%, Anxiety 0.4% and Personality disorders 0.3%.

The prevalence of dementia and depression was significantly higher amongst patients with Parkinson's disease compared to the general population (p < 0.01). Interestingly, eating disorders were four-fold more prevalent in Parkinson's disease patients than in the general population (p < 0.01). Therefore, holistic care-pathways in Parkinson's disease must appreciate and address the prevalence of these disorders to improve patient care and well-being.