Neurological and psychiatric changes in patients with never apathy, incident apathy and persistent apathy during the 4-year observation period
| Never apathy (n = 29) | Incident apathy (n = 39) | Persistent apathy (n = 11) | p Value* | |
| Change in total Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale motor score† (SD) | 12.9 (13.7) | 21.5 (15.6) | 36.8 (18.1) | 0.001 |
| Change in motor subscore A‡ (SD) | 8.8 (10.8) | 14.4 (12.0) | 24.7 (12.9) | 0.003 |
| Change in motor subscore B§ (SD) | 2.6 (2.6) | 5.2 (3.7) | 7.2 (5.3) | 0.004 |
| Change in MADRS score¶ (SD) | −0.2 (3.9) | 4.3 (8.9) | −1.0 (1.6) | 0.042 |
| Change in MMSE score§ (SD) | −3.4 (4.8) | −8.3 (6.6) | −12.2 (6.4) | <0.001 |
| Change in NPI apathy score† (SD) | −0.10 (0.90) | 8.3 (2.8) | 1.2 (3.1) | <0.001 |
| Depression | ||||
| Baseline‡, n (%) | 5 (17.2) | 5 (12.8) | 6 (54.5) | 0.055 |
| Follow-up§, n (%) | 3 (10.3) | 11 (28.2) | 5 (45.5) | 0.004 |
| Dementia | ||||
| Baseline§, n (%) | 2 (6.9) | 14 (35.9) | 7 (63.6) | <0.001 |
| Follow-up§, n (%) | 6 (20.7) | 34 (87.2) | 10 (90.9) | <0.001 |
Data are expressed as mean (SD) or number (percentage of assessed patients); all available data included. All p values are two-tailed. A positive change in total motor score and motor subscore A or B represents a worsening of motor performance, negative Montgomery and Aasberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) apathy score changes represent improvement of depressive and apathetic symptoms, whereas negative Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score changes represent a worsening of cognitive symptoms, compared with baseline values.
*p values computed using Kruskal–Wallis tests for continuous variables, linear-by-linear association test for categorical variables.
†Comparisons: Never apathy versus Incident apathy & Never apathy versus Persistent apathy & Incident apathy versus Persistent apathy: p<0.05.
‡Comparisons: Never apathy versus Persistent apathy & Incident apathy versus Persistent apathy: p<0.05.
§Comparisons: Never apathy versus Incident apathy & Never apathy versus Persistent apathy: p<0.05 for motor subscore B and depression at follow-up, p⩽0.01 for MMSE, p⩽0.005 for dementia at baseline, and p<0.001 for dementia at follow-up.
¶Comparison: Never apathy versus Incident apathy: p<0.05.