Reliability, validity, and clinical correlates of apathy in Parkinson's disease.
The authors examined a consecutive series of 50 patients for the presence of apathy, depression, anxiety, and neuropsychological deficits using a neuropsychological battery that included a recently designed apathy scale. This scale was found to be reliable and valid in the diagnosis of apathy in patients with PD. Of patients in the study, 12% showed apathy as their primary psychiatric problem, and 30% were both apathetic and depressed. Patients with apathy (with or without depression), showed significantly more deficits in both tasks of verbal memory and time-dependent tasks. Results suggest that apathy is a frequent finding in PD, is significantly associated with specific cognitive impairments, and may have a different mechanism than depression.
Starkstein
S E
SE
Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
Mayberg
H S
HS
Preziosi
T J
TJ
Andrezejewski
P
P
Leiguarda
R
R
Robinson
R G
RG
D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D011594:Psychometrics