We examined the prevalence of major depression and dysthymia in 78 pat
ients with the classic variant of Parkinson's disease (PD) (that is, t
remor plus rigidity and/or bradykinesia), and in 34 patients with the
akinetic-rigid variant. Although the prevalence of dysthymia was simil
ar in both groups (classic PD, 31%; and akinetic-rigid PD, 32%), patie
nts with akinetic-rigid PD had a significantly higher prevalence of ma
jor depression (38% versus 15%, respectively; p < 0.01). A stepwise re
gression analysis demonstrated that bradykinesia was the extrapyramida
l sign with the highest correlation with Hamilton depression scale sco
res. Our findings demonstrate a significant association between major
depression and the akinetic-rigid type of PD.