This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.
Abstract
Objective To evaluate the association between baseline apathy and probable incident dementia in a population-based sample of community-dwelling older adults.
Methods We studied 2,018 white and black community-dwelling older adults from the Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) study. We measured apathy at year 6 (our study baseline) with the modified Apathy Evaluation Scale and divided participants into tertiles based on low, moderate, or severe apathy symptoms. Incident dementia was ascertained over 9 years by dementia medication use, hospital records, or clinically relevant cognitive decline on global cognition. We examined the association between apathy and probable incident dementia using a Cox proportional hazards model adjusting for demographics, cardiovascular risk factors, APOE4 status, and depressed mood. We also evaluated the association between the apathy group and cognitive change (as measured by the modified Mini-Mental State Examination and Digit Symbol Substitution Test over 5 years) using linear mixed effects models.
Results Over 9 years of follow-up, 381 participants developed probable dementia. Severe apathy was associated with an increased risk of dementia compared to low apathy (25% vs 14%) in unadjusted (hazard ratio [HR] 1.9, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.5–2.5) and adjusted models (HR 1.7, 95% CI 1.3–2.2). Greater apathy was associated with worse cognitive score at baseline, but not rate of change over time.
Conclusion In a diverse cohort of community-dwelling adults, apathy was associated with increased risk of developing probable dementia. This study provides novel evidence for apathy as a prodrome of dementia.
Glossary
- 3MS=
- modified Mini-Mental State Examination;
- CES-D=
- Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale;
- DSST=
- Digit Symbol Substitution Test;
- Health ABC=
- Health, Aging, and Body Composition study;
- HR=
- hazard ratio;
- MCI=
- mild cognitive impairment;
- NPS=
- neuropsychiatric symptoms
Footnotes
Go to Neurology.org/N for full disclosures. Funding information and disclosures deemed relevant by the authors, if any, are provided at the end of the article.
- Received January 29, 2020.
- Accepted in final form August 12, 2020.
- © 2020 American Academy of Neurology
AAN Members
We have changed the login procedure to improve access between AAN.com and the Neurology journals. If you are experiencing issues, please log out of AAN.com and clear history and cookies. (For instructions by browser, please click the instruction pages below). After clearing, choose preferred Journal and select login for AAN Members. You will be redirected to a login page where you can log in with your AAN ID number and password. When you are returned to the Journal, your name should appear at the top right of the page.
AAN Non-Member Subscribers
Purchase access
Disputes & Debates: Rapid online correspondence
REQUIREMENTS
If you are uploading a letter concerning an article:
You must have updated your disclosures within six months: http://submit.neurology.org
Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.
If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.
Submission specifications:
- Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
- Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.