Apathy Predicts Dementia in Cognitively Normal Older People

A study in Neurology showed severe apathy in cognitively normal older people can be a forerunner of future dementia, reports MedPage Today . Compared with older adults with low levels of apathy, those with severe apathy were almost twice as likely to develop probable dementia over nine years of follow-up. The researchers followed 2,018 white and black community-dwelling older adults, mean age 73.9: 768 people were categorized as having low apathy, 742 moderate apathy, and 508 severe apathy. Those with greater apathy at baseline were significantly more likely to be male, black, and less educated. During the follow-up period, 381 participants developed probable dementia, and severe apathy was associated with a higher risk of dementia compared with low apathy. Moderate apathy also was linked to elevated dementia risk versus low apathy, but this relationship was not significant after adjustment. Increased apathy was associated with worse cognitive score at baseline, but not the rate of cognitive change over time. "While depression has been studied more extensively as a predictor of dementia, our study adds to the research showing that apathy also deserves attention as an independent predictor of the disease," said the University of California, San Francisco's Meredith Bock.