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Proposed%20Criteria%20for%20Diagnosis%20of%20the%20Syndrome%20of%20Apathy
Availability
Please email the authors for information about obtaining the instrument: sergio.starkstein@uwa.edu.au
Classification
Short Description of Instrument
The Criteria focus on the lack of goal directed behavior, have a four week time criteria and require impairment of functioning.
 
The Proposed Criteria for Diagnosis of the Syndrome of Apathy are based on the Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES) developed by Marin. The AES specifically excluded patients with neurodegenerative disorders and the Criteria are designed to include both demented patients and patients with other neurodegenerative disorders. The Criteria are based primarily on a review of the literature and conceptual analysis by the authors, not a correlation with clinical diagnoses of apathy.
 
The Criteria were recently validated in a group of 24 PD patients with strong agreement between the standardized diagnostic criteria for apathy and expert clinical diagnosis. A significant subset of the 24 patients had dementia and/ or depression although the exact number with comorbid conditions is not specified in the paper.
 
The MDS Task Force recommended considering the Dementia Apathy Interview and Rating scale (DAIR) for use in patients with PD and comorbid dementia. The DAIR is an informant-based interview to assess apathy in patients with Alzheimer's disease. The DAIR has a good internal consistency, with very high interrater and test–retest agreement, but only a weak correlation with clinicians' rating of apathy. The DAIR has not been tested in PD patients with comorbid dementia.
Scoring
N/A- No scoring
References
Starkstein SE and Leentjens AF. The nosological position of apathy in clinical practice. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2008;79(10):1088-1092.
 
Marin RS. Apathy: a neuropsychiatric syndrome. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci.1991;3(3):243-254.
 
Starkstein SE, et al. The syndromal validity and nosological position of apathy in Parkinson's disease. Mov Disord. 2009;24(8):1211-1216.
 
Strauss ME and Sperry SD. An informant-based assessment of apathy in Alzheimer disease. Neuropsychiatry Neuropsychol Behav Neurol. 2002;15(3):176-183.
 
Document last updated August 2022