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P2‐270: Apathy and depression in subjective cognitive impairment (SCI) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI)
Author(s) -
Deutsch Gayle,
Tan Simon,
Fine Eric,
Llanes Seoni,
Hantke Nathan,
Zeifert Penelope
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2012.05.978
Subject(s) - apathy , psychology , dementia , geriatric depression scale , neuropsychology , cognition , clinical psychology , verbal fluency test , depression (economics) , disinhibition , mood , psychiatry , disease , medicine , depressive symptoms , economics , macroeconomics
Background: Apathy, a behavioral syndrome characterized by amotivation and diminished goal-oriented behavior, and depression are commonly reported in MCI and dementia. Both apathy and depression have been associated with functional decline in these populations. Additionally, apathy is an important predictor of conversion from MCI to dementia. This study sought to investigate the relationships among apathy, depression and functional ability in geriatric patients with subjective and objective memory difficulties before progression to dementia. Methods: Participants were patients (n 1⁄4 40; mean age 1⁄4 74 + 7.9) with subjective memory complaints who were referred for neuropsychological assessment. All patients were proficient in English. The neuropsychological test battery included objective cognitive measures, as well as a self-report measure of mood, the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and two familyreport measures of behavior: the Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ) and the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe). The FrSBe measures the frequency of behaviors associated with three frontal-behavioral domains: apathy (FrSBe-A), executive dysfunction (FrSBe-ED) and disinhibition (FrSBe-D). Participants were classified with Subjective Cognitive Impairment (SCI) if they performed within 1.5 standard deviations of the normative mean on objective cognitive measures. Participants were classified with Mild Cognitive Impairment-Amnestic (MCI-A) if they performed greater than 1.5 standard deviations below the normative mean on the delayed recall portion of the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised (HVLT-R), Logical Memory subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale-III (WMS-III) or the Brief Visual Memory Test-Revised (BVMT-R).Results: The GDS correlated significantly with the FrSBe Total Score (r 1⁄4 .455) and each dimension of the FrSBe; FrSBe-A (r 1⁄4 .369), FrSBe-ED (r 1⁄4 .416) and FrSBe-D (r 1⁄4 .411). The GDS also correlated significantly with the FAQ (r 1⁄4 .376). The FAQ correlated significantly with the FrSBe-A (r 1⁄4 .472), but not with the FrSBe-ED or the FrSBe-D. Conclusions: In this sample of geriatric patients with subjective memory complaints and some with Amnestic MCI, significant relationships were found among self-report of depression and family members’ ratings of frontal systems behavior and functional capabilities. Specifically, apathy and depression were associated with functional ability. P2-271 TRAJECTORY CHANGE OF GLOBAL COGNITIVE FUNCTION PRIOR TO DEMENTIA DIAGNOSIS