TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2020//
TI  - Are apathy and depressive symptoms related to vascular white matter hyperintensities in severe late life depression?
JO  - Journal of geriatric psychiatry and neurology
A1  - Oudega, Mardien Leoniek
A1  - Siddiqui, Amna
A1  - Wattjes, Mike P.
A1  - Barkhof, Frederik
A1  - Kate, Mara Ten
A1  - Muller, Majon
A1  - Bouckaert, Filip
A1  - Vandenbulcke, Mathieu
A1  - de Winter, François-Laurent
A1  - Sienaert, Pascal
A1  - Stek, Max L.
A1  - Comijs, Hannie C.
A1  - Korten, Nicole C. M.
A1  - Emsell, Louise
A1  - Eikelenboom, Piet
A1  - Rhebergen, Didi
A1  - Van Exel, Eric
A1  - Dols, Annemieke
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - OBJECTIVE: Apathy symptoms are defined as a lack of interest and motivation. Patients with late-life depression (LLD) also suffer from lack of interest and motivation and previous studies have linked apathy to vascular white matter hyperintensities (WMH) of the brain in depressed and nondepressed patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between apathy symptoms, depressive symptoms, and WMH in LLD. We hypothesize that late-onset depression (LOD; first episode of depression after 55 years of age) is associated with WMH and apathy symptoms. <br><br>METHODS: Apathy scores were collected for 87 inpatients diagnosed with LLD. Eighty patients underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging. Associations between depressive and apathy symptoms and WMH were analyzed using linear regression. <br><br>RESULTS: All 3 subdomains of the 10-item Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale correlated significantly with the apathy scale score (all <i>P</i> <.05). In the total sample, apathy nor depressive symptoms were related to specific WMH. In LOD only, periventricular WMH were associated with depression severity (β = 5.21, <i>P</i> =.04), while WMH in the left infratentorial region were associated with apathy symptoms (β coefficient = 5.89, <i>P</i> =.03). <br><br>CONCLUSION: Apathy and depressive symptoms are highly overlapping in the current cohort of older patients with severe LLD, leading to the hypothesis that apathy symptoms are part of depressive symptoms in the symptom profile of older patients with severe LLD. Neither apathy nor depressive symptoms were related to WMH, suggesting that radiological markers of cerebrovascular disease, such as WMH, may not be useful in predicting these symptoms in severe LLD.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0891-9887
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0891988720901783
ID  - ref1
ER  -