Comparison of demographic and clinical characteristics between patients with LLD with and without apathy, and between patients with LLD and healthy controls
| Characteristic | LLD with apathy* n = 28 | LLD without apathy* n = 11 | Statistic | p value | LLD total n = 39 | Control n = 26 | Statistic | p value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, mean (range), yr | 75 (72 to 80) | 72 (71 to 78) | U = 112 | 0.19 | 74 (71 to 80) | 75 (72 to 78) | U = 517 | 0.88 |
| Gender, no. M:F | 11:17 | 1:10 | χ2 = 2.1 | 0.15 | 12:27 | 6:20 | χ2 = 0.16 | 0.69 |
| Education, mean (range), yr | 10 (8 to 13) | 12 (11 to 15) | U = 202 | 0.13 | 12 (8 to 15) | 11 (9 to 14) | U = 501 | 0.94 |
| Duration of depression, mean (range), yr | 23 (8 to 40) | 22 (1 to 48) | t = 0.27 | 0.79 | 23 (1 to 48) | – | – | – |
| MADRS, mean (range) | 27 (25 to 30) | 22 (21 to 27) | U = 85.5 | 0.03 | 25 (21 to 30) | – | – | – |
| Apathy, mean (range) | ||||||||
| AES | 47 (41 to 52) | 34 (32 to 39) | t = −4.8 | < 0.001 | 42 (32 to 52) | – | – | – |
| AMI | 33 (29 to 36) | 20 (18 to 24) | t = −5.0 | < 0.001 | 30 (18 to 36) | – | – | – |
| Psychotropic drugs†, % | ||||||||
| Antidepressant | 82 | 82 | χ2 = 0.2 | 0.91 | 82 | – | – | – |
| Mood stabilizer | 18 | 9 | χ2 = 0.9 | 0.64 | 15 | – | – | – |
| Benzodiazepine | 36 | 45 | χ2 = 0.3 | 0.85 | 38 | – | – | – |
| Antipsychotic | 14 | 0 | χ2 = 0.5 | 0.46 | 10 | – | – | – |
| DRS, mean (range) | 133 (128 to 137) | 136 (132 to 141) | t = 1.47 | 0.18 | 134 (128 to 141) | – | – | – |
| TMT-A, mean (range) | 51.5 (35.8 to 66.5) | 39.0 (35.0 to 51.5) | U = 119 | 0.29 | 46.0 (35.0 to 66.5) | 37.0 (30.0 to 44.0) | t = 2.4 | 0.005 |
| Stroop interference, mean (range) | −73.0 (−91.5 to −51.5) | −73.0 (−106.0 to −60.75) | U = 103 | 0.29 | −73.0 (−106.0 to −51.5) | −43.0 (−69.5 to −31.8) | U = 251 | 0.004 |
| Cognitive flexibility, mean (range) | ||||||||
| TMT B-A | 72.0 (39.0 to 136.0) | 80.0 (69.0 to 100.0) | t = 0.13 | 0.90 | 79.0 (39.0 to 136.0) | 69.0 (41.0 to 103.0) | t = 1.1 | 0.28 |
| MCST perseverative errors | 3.0 (2.0 to 6.0) | 1.5 (0.3 to 10.0) | U = 93.5 | 0.13 | 3.0 (0.3 to 10.0) | 2.0 (1.0 to 4.0) | t = 1.5 | 0.22 |
| MCST complete categories | 6.0 (4.3 to 6.0) | 6.0 (4.3 to 6.0) | U = 127.5 | 0.94 | 6.0 (4.3 to 6.0) | 6.0 (5.0 to 6.0) | U = 398 | 0.41 |
| Verbal fluency, mean (range) | ||||||||
| Semantic | 22.5 (18.0 to 27.8) | 21.0 (14.5 to 24.5) | U = 193 | 0.10 | 24.0 (14.5 to 27.8) | 26.0 (24.3 to 32.0) | U = 369 | 0.12 |
| Phonemic | 18.0 (11.5 to 24.0) | 21 (14.5 to 24.5) | U = 164 | 0.62 | 19.0 (11.5 to 24.5) | 19.5 (16.3 to 24.0) | t = −1.2 | 0.23 |
AES = Apathy Evaluation Scale; AMI = Apathy Motivation Index; DRS = Mattis Dementia Rating Scale; F = female; IQR = interquartile range; LLD = late-life depression; M = male; MADRS = Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Scale; MCST = Modified Card Sorting Test; TMT-A = Trail Making test part A; TMT B-A = difference in scores between TMT parts B and A.
↵* Apathy was defined based on the 2018 diagnostic criteria of apathy.
↵† One or more per patient.