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Neuropsychological performance in mild cognitive impairment with and without apathy
Philippe H Robert1, Claudine Berr, Magali Volteau
1Centre Mémoire de Ressources et de Recherche, CHU de Nice, INSERM JE 2441, Nice, France. philippe.robert15@wanadoo.fr
Objective:
To investigate the neuropsychological characteristics of patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with and without apathy.
Methods:
A cohort of 245 MCI patients (mean age = 72 +/- 5.5 years; mean MMSE = 27.5 +/- 1.3) was divided into two subgroups according to their Apathy Inventory score and underwent an extensive neuropsychological battery.
Results:
There were 94 (38.4%) patients with and 151 (61.6%) patients without apathy. At baseline the apathetic subgroup had a significantly lower total score on the free and cued selective reminding test (FCSR). Furthermore, the apathetic subgroup showed a significant deterioration in FCSR total recall score between baseline and the 1-year assessment. In conclusion, the presence of apathy in MCI patients is not associated with frontal task performance but with a higher degree of memory impairment.
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