Abbreviated Apathy Evaluation Scale Consistent, Effective in Parkinson Disease

An abbreviated version of the Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES) can consistently and effectively assess apathy in people with Parkinson disease (PD) with or without comorbid dementia and depression, according to results published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

The abbreviated AES requires only one-third of the time required to administer the original AES.

The study included data on participants with PD from the DEMPARK/LANDSCAPE study who did not have dementia or depression (n=339). Participants were randomly split into 2 samples. The researchers used the data from sample 1 to develop a brief version of the AES (AES-12PD). For cross-validation, the researchers used the data from sample 2 and a subsample of 42 patients with PD and comorbid dementia and depressive symptoms. They used receiver operating characteristic analysis to determine the optimal cutoff of the AES-12PD as an indicator of apathy.

The AES-12PD showed high internal consistency that was better than the AES in both samples and in the PD and comorbid dementia and depressive symptoms subsample. Investigators were able to differentiate apathy from motor impairment and cognitive deficits successfully.

The researchers found that a cutoff of 27/28 was optimal for participants with PD without dementia and depression, and a cutoff of 25/26 was optimal for participants with PD and comorbid dementia and depression.

“This self-rating instrument may reduce time and effort considerably, especially in the context of repeated administration and large patient samples,” the researchers wrote.

Reference

Stankevich Y, Lueken U, Balzer-Geldsetzer M, et al. Psychometric properties of an abbreviated version of the Apathy Evaluation Scale for Parkinson Disease (AES-12PD) [published online June 30, 2018]. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. doi:10.1016/j.jagp.2018.06.012