Natural History of Poststroke Apathy During Acute Rehabilitation

To better understand the natural history of poststroke apathy, the authors tested 96 patients undergoing acute rehabilitation for stroke using the Apathy Inventory. A total of 28% of patients had apathy. Their Apathy Inventory scores improved a mean of 1 point by week 2 and 2 points by week 3, with the majority of patients remaining apathetic at discharge. Apathy severity correlated with aphasia, weakness, and impaired cognition but did not correlate with depression. These findings suggest that acute rehabilitation is an optimal setting for clinical trials for poststroke apathy, because apathy is associated with poor outcomes and shows only a small degree of spontaneous improvement.