PARKINSONS-DISEASE AND SMOKING - THE RELATIONSHIP TO PERSONALITY

Numerous large surveys have demonstrated low premorbid rates of smokin g in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. It has been suggested that eit her smoking may protect against PD or that the low smoking rates are r elated to a premorbid personality associated with PD. In 104 Parkinson 's disease (PD) patients and 61 orthopaedic controls, we studied the r elationship between smoking and a personality trait, ''novelty seeking ,'' that has been found to characterize PD patients premorbidly and af ter the onset of the motor illness. PD patients were less likely than controls to have been smokers (odds ratio = 0.497, P < .02). There wer e also interactions between the personality trait novelty seeking and smoking behaviors. Patients who had a history of smoking had higher no velty seeking scores (t = 2.6, P < .02) than those who had not smoked. In addition, there were correlations between smoking indices and nove lty seeking. Novelty seeking was positively correlated with pack-years (r = .26, P < .01) and years of smoking (r = .27, P < .01). This stud y suggests that the low rate of smoking seen premorbidly in PD is part of a more general syndrome of low novelty seeking that characterizes patients with Parkinson's disease both premorbidly and after the onset of the motor illness. Furthermore, we suggest that the decreased smok ing rates in PD may be, like novelty seeking, related to a deficit in dopaminergically mediated reward and pleasure systems.