Apathy is associated with faster global cognitive decline and early nursing home admission in dementia with Lewy bodies

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the consequences of apathy in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), because previous research on apathy in dementia focused mainly on Alzheimer’s disease (AD). METHODS: In this longitudinal study, we included patients with AD (n = 128) and patients with DLB (n = 81). At baseline, we analyzed the associations between apathy and cognition in the total sample and in AD and DLB separately. Generalized linear mixed models were used to investigate the association between apathy and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) over 4 years, and the Kaplan-Meier method was used to assess the association between apathy and survival or nursing home admission. RESULTS: In patients with DLB, apathy was associated with a faster global cognitive decline (MMSE) over 4 years. Patients with DLB and apathy had shorter time until nursing home admission than DLB patients without apathy and patients with AD, regardless of apathy. At baseline, patients with apathy had decreased performance on the Stroop color test and a composite executive function score. Neurocognition was unaffected by apathy in AD, but DLB patients with apathy had more verbal learning difficulties. CONCLUSIONS: Apathy seems to be associated with more serious symptomatology in DLB than in AD. It is important to focus on apathy in dementia because it is one of the most prevalent and disturbing behavioral and psychological symptoms.