Apathy in early and late-life depression

Area of Science:

• Geriatric Psychiatry
• Clinical Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Late-life depression presents differently than early-life depression, often with increased apathy.
• Previous research lacked robust evidence on apathy prevalence and characteristics in older versus younger depressed individuals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the presence of apathy in older versus younger adults with major depressive disorder.
• To identify socio-demographic and clinical factors associated with apathy in different age groups of depressed individuals.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional analysis of data from the Netherlands Study of Depression in Older Persons (NESDO) and Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA).
• Included 605 participants with major depressive disorder, stratified into early-life (<60 years) and late-life (≥60 years) groups.
• Apathy was assessed using the Apathy Scale, with a score of ≥14 indicating presence.

Main Results:

• Apathy was significantly more prevalent in late-life depression (74.5%) compared to early-life depression (53.5%).
• Independent risk factors for apathy included male gender, low education, benzodiazepine use, chronic diseases, and depression severity.
• Smoking was uniquely associated with apathy in older depressed individuals, unlike younger counterparts.

Conclusions:

• Clinically significant apathy is more common in older adults with depression than in younger adults.
• Associated risk factors for apathy largely overlap between age groups, with older age, male gender, and depression severity being independent predictors.