JAMDA
Volume 10, Issue 6 , Pages 381-393, July 2009

Apathy: A Common Psychiatric Syndrome in the Elderly

  • Shinya Ishii, MD

      Affiliations

    • GRECC, Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence to Shinya Ishii, MD, GRECC, Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, 11301 Wilshire Boulevard, Building 220, Room 302 Los Angeles, CA 90073.
    • ,
  • Nancy Weintraub, MD

      Affiliations

    • Sepulveda Campus Greater Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Los Angeles, CA
    • David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
    • ,
  • James R. Mervis, MD

      Affiliations

    • Sepulveda Campus Greater Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Los Angeles, CA
    • David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA

Apathy, or a lack of motivation, has been increasingly recognized as a distinct psychiatric syndrome. Apathy is primarily a dysfunction of the frontal-subcortical circuit and is associated with various neuropsychiatric disorders including Alzheimer's disease. Apathy is associated with a number of adverse outcomes, including apparent cognitive impairment, decreased daily function, poor insight into one's own functional and cognitive impairment, and poor outcome from rehabilitation treatment. Furthermore, the degree of caregiver's burden in these patients is significant. This article reviews the definition of apathy, prevalence and associated adverse outcomes, causation, the approach to patients with apathy, and available treatment options with particular attention to studies conducted in a nursing home setting. The purpose of this article is to increase the recognition of apathy by physicians working in the nursing home.

Keywords: Apathy, dementia, cognition disorders, mood disorders

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PII: S1525-8610(09)00099-1

doi:10.1016/j.jamda.2009.03.007

JAMDA
Volume 10, Issue 6 , Pages 381-393, July 2009

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