The incidence of worsening impulse control disorders in the initiation of apomorphine therapy

Apomorphine therapy was first discovered in the 19th century and became clinically available for use in 1980’s. Apomorphine therapy has been described as an underutilised therapy for Parkinson’s disease (The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of Impulse Control Disorders (ICD) using a clinician administered rating scale the ‘Questionnaire for Impulsive-Compulsive Disorders in Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale’ (QUIP-RS). The results of this study were consistent with the current literature that was reviewed. We found that apomorphine therapy were unlikely to worsen ICD and the use of apomorphine infusion may even improve ICD. In addition, concomitant use of dopamine agonists was not likely to worsen ICD.