Anosognosia and avoidant coping do not impact work in early Huntington's disease

BackgroundWork plays a crucial role in life, contributing to financial stability and well-being. Huntington's disease (HD), a genetic neurodegenerative disorder, can significantly affect work capacity. Anosognosia (lack of awareness of impairments) and avoidant coping are common in HD but remain unexplored in relation to work outcomes.ObjectiveThis study investigated the relationships between anosognosia, coping styles, and work capacity in individuals with pre-motor manifest and motor manifest HD.MethodsUtilizing the HD-Work dataset, we analyzed motor and cognitive functioning, coping styles, work capacity, and anosognosia in participants with pre-motor manifest and motor manifest HD (n = 117). Anosognosia was operationalized through expert rating, participant - proxy, and cognitive - performance discrepancies. Work capacity was measured using the occupation item of the Total Functional Capacity scale, and coping styles were assessed with the Utrechtse Coping Lijst.ResultsAnosognosia was strongly associated with cognitive decline, while avoidant coping was less prevalent. Both anosognosia and avoidance coping were correlated with frontal behaviors but not with work capacity. A positive association between avoidant coping and anosognosia was found. The most common coping style used was passive coping. Participants did not often seek social comfort.ConclusionsThe best predictor of anosognosia was cognitive decline. The positive association between avoidant coping and anosognosia suggested a potential misattribution of avoidant coping to anosognosia. This study emphasized the importance of recognizing avoidant and passive coping strategies in early-stage HD, as well as anosognosia in relation to cognitive decline, even though these factors do not directly impact work capacity.