TY - JOUR
T1 - Apathy in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
T2 - insights from Dimensional Apathy Scale
AU - Santangelo, Gabriella
AU - Siciliano, Mattia
AU - Trojano, Luigi
AU - Femiano, Cinzia
AU - Monsurrò, Maria Rosaria
AU - Tedeschi, Gioacchino
AU - Trojsi, Francesca
PY - 2017/8
Y1 - 2017/8
N2 - OBJECTIVES: Apathy is associated with cognitive decline and worse survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); an accurate evaluation of this aspect is relevant in clinical settings. The aims of this study are to evaluate the prevalence of apathy in a large ALS sample, using published diagnostic criteria, and to explore the psychometric properties, the sensitivity and the specificity of the Dimensional Apathy Scale (DAS) as a screening tool for apathy.METHODS: One hundred and thirty-one patients underwent clinical interview based on diagnostic criteria for apathy, DAS, Apathy Evaluation Scale, and assessment of depression, global cognitive functioning, and non-verbal intelligence.RESULTS: According to diagnostic criteria, apathy occurred in 28.2% of the patients. The DAS showed high consistency, convergent, and discriminant validities. Apathetic and non-apathetic patients significantly differed on total DAS and executive and Behavioral/Cognitive Initiation subscales, indicating good criterion validity. Receiver operating characteristics analysis, considering diagnostic criteria for apathy as gold standard, revealed that a score of 26/27 was an optimal cut-off score for the identification of apathy.CONCLUSIONS: The DAS is a valid screening tool for apathy and its aspects in ALS through limiting the impact of physical disability. Executive and behavioral/cognitive aspects of apathy, rather than emotional aspects, are more frequent in ALS.
AB - OBJECTIVES: Apathy is associated with cognitive decline and worse survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); an accurate evaluation of this aspect is relevant in clinical settings. The aims of this study are to evaluate the prevalence of apathy in a large ALS sample, using published diagnostic criteria, and to explore the psychometric properties, the sensitivity and the specificity of the Dimensional Apathy Scale (DAS) as a screening tool for apathy.METHODS: One hundred and thirty-one patients underwent clinical interview based on diagnostic criteria for apathy, DAS, Apathy Evaluation Scale, and assessment of depression, global cognitive functioning, and non-verbal intelligence.RESULTS: According to diagnostic criteria, apathy occurred in 28.2% of the patients. The DAS showed high consistency, convergent, and discriminant validities. Apathetic and non-apathetic patients significantly differed on total DAS and executive and Behavioral/Cognitive Initiation subscales, indicating good criterion validity. Receiver operating characteristics analysis, considering diagnostic criteria for apathy as gold standard, revealed that a score of 26/27 was an optimal cut-off score for the identification of apathy.CONCLUSIONS: The DAS is a valid screening tool for apathy and its aspects in ALS through limiting the impact of physical disability. Executive and behavioral/cognitive aspects of apathy, rather than emotional aspects, are more frequent in ALS.
KW - Journal Article
U2 - 10.1080/21678421.2017.1313865
DO - 10.1080/21678421.2017.1313865
M3 - Article
C2 - 28431489
VL - 18
SP - 434
EP - 442
JO - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration
JF - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration
SN - 2167-8421
IS - 5-6
ER -