Apathy and agitation in institutionalized older adults: an empirically derived classification

Apathy and agitation are often recognized as the most problematic behavioural and psychological symptoms in care settings. In this study, we analyze the relationship between apathy and agitation symptoms other and their relationship with demographic, cognitive, and neuropsychiatric variables and psychotropic medication use.

A retrospective study was conducted at a gerontological care centre in Láncara, Spain. Participants were 196 residents of the gerontological care centre, including 143 with a diagnosis of dementia. Apathy and agitation were assessed with the Apathy Scale for Institutionalized Patients with Dementia, Nursing Home version, and the Spanish version of the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory, respectively. Two-stage hierarchical cluster analysis (hierarchical cluster analysis in a first exploratory stage and K-means clustering to obtain the final solution in the second stage) was conducted to assign residents to different groups based on apathy and agitation scores.

In cluster 1, a certain level of apathy, the highest levels of agitation, and the most frequent intake of atypical antipsychotics and clomethiazole were observed. The highest levels of apathy and the most frequent intake of memantine were seen in cluster 2. The lowest levels of agitation and apathy and the highest levels of cognitive performance were found in cluster 3.

In this study, subjects with dementia were in a state of high agitation and eventual apathy, had low cognitive status, and were very old. Patients with this profile require well-designed non-pharmacological interventions.