Gambling Habits of People With Parkinson's Disease: An Exploratory Study

The development of pathological gambling (PG) among people with Parkinson's disease (PD) is increasingly reported. The intake of dopamine agonists is most often associated with the emergence of this addiction. Although it is known that gambling habits contribute to the onset of gambling problems in the general population, these habits have not yet been studied in individuals with PD. Thus, this study aimed to explore gambling habits in people with PD. Twenty-five individuals with PD and 8 caregivers participated. Thirteen gamblers took part in a semi-structured interview regarding their gambling habits and the presence of a gambling problem and other impulse-control disorders. The results show that gamblers mainly play lotteries and slot machines. Most gamble for pleasure, but some reported wanting to win money to finance a cure for their PD. None of the gamblers involved a caregiver in their gambling activities and no gambler currently presented a gambling problem. However, 2 at-risk gamblers reported having developed a gambling problem in the past. This study sheds light on factors that may contribute to the development of PG among patients with PD, namely, the emergence of new reasons for gambling after a PD diagnosis, erroneous beliefs about gambling, and discretion about gambling habits. Prevention strategies are discussed in view of these results. However, given the small sample size, further studies examining the gambling habits of people with PD are required.