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. 2022 Feb 5;13(1):e12169.
doi: 10.1002/dad2.12169. eCollection 2021.

Prevalent, persistent, and impairing: Longitudinal course and impact of apathy in Alzheimer's disease

Hillel T Grossman  1   2 , Mary Sano  1   2 , Amy Aloysi  2   3 , Gregory A Elder  2   3 , Judith Neugroschl  2 , Corbett Schimming  1   2 , Laili Soleimani  2 , Carolyn W Zhu  1   2   4
Affiliations

Prevalent, persistent, and impairing: Longitudinal course and impact of apathy in Alzheimer's disease

Hillel T Grossman et al. Alzheimers Dement (Amst). .

Abstract

Introduction: Understanding of the natural history of apathy and its impact on patient function is limited. This study examines, in a large, national sample of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients with long follow-ups: (1) prevalence, incidence, and persistence of apathy, and (2) impact of apathy on function across dementia severity.

Methods: A longitudinal study of 9823 well-characterized AD patients in the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Uniform Data Set.

Results: Apathy was highly prevalent across disease severity with cumulative prevalence of 48%, 74%, and 82% in Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0, respectively. Persistence of apathy from clinician judgment varied from visit to visit at earlier disease stages but remained high at moderate dementia. Independent of cognition, persistent apathy was strongly associated with accelerated rate of functional decline.

Discussion: Findings point to important targets for the treatment and management of apathy, include functional outcomes, and study designs that account for variable persistence of the apathy syndrome.

Keywords: apathy; dementia; function; longitudinal studies; mild cognitive impairment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare. The sponsor played no role in the design, methods, participant recruitment, data collections, analysis, and preparation of the article.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Predicted Functional Assessment Questionnaire (FAQ) at each apathy group by baseline Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) over time
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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