Compared to patients with any other dopaminergic drug prescription (38.7% with GD), the diagnosis was more common in patients with a dopamine agonist prescription (69.8% with GD), resulting in an odds ratio of 3.2. The goal of this study was to examine the association between a prescription for either of the three pharmaceuticals and a GD diagnosis in a large cross-sectional study of the Swedish population. Especially the dopamine agonists pramipexole and ropinirole, and the dopamine modulator aripiprazole seem to increase the likelihood for GD. Within the last 20 years, there has been growing evidence for a higher risk to develop GD in response to certain dopaminergic medication. However, the findings to date are controversial and there has been no agreement yet on how the reward system is affected on a molecular basis. According to neuroimaging studies, alterations within the striatal dopaminergic signalling can occur in GD. Gambling Disorder (GD) has recently been reclassified from an impulse-control disorder to a behavioural addiction and, as in other addictive disorders, the dopaminergic reward system is involved.
