Diminished Social and Leisure Engagement in Community Dwelling-Older Adults with Apathy

Apathy predicts functional and cognitive decline in community-dwelling older adults. However, the behavioral correlates of apathy, which could promote cognitive decline have not been described. Our objective was to investigate the associations of apathy with leisure and social engagement.

N = 538 older adults enrolled in the Central Control of Mobility in Aging study. We used the GDS3A, a 3-item subscale of the Geriatric Depression Scale, to define apathy and the frequency of participation in cognitive, physical, and social leisure activities. Linear regression models were conducted to assess the association between apathy and its behavioral correlates: social engagement and leisure activity participation. Covariates included age, gender, education level, multimorbidity, and dysphoria.

Apathy was present in 29.7% of participants and was significantly associated with less frequent participation in physical activity days per week (-1.688. p = 0.003) but not cognitive (-1.094, p = 0.252) or social (-0.654, p = 0.103) leisure activities. Apathy was also associated with a decreased social behavior composite score (-0.055, p < 0.001), Social Network Index (-0.478, p = 0.003), and Medical Outcomes Study Social Support scores (-0.26, p = 0.001).

Our findings suggest that apathy presents with reduced participation in physical leisure activities and reduced social engagement, which may provide a way for clinicians and caregivers to identify apathy in the future.