Baseline Vascular Cognitive Impairment Predicts the Course of Apathetic Symptoms After Stroke: The CASPER Study

Elles Douven, Sebastian Kohler, Syenna H. J. Schievink, Robert J. van Oostenbrugge, Julie Staals, Frans R. J. Verhey, Pauline Aalten*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Objective: To examine the influence of vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) on the course of poststroke depression (PSD) and poststroke apathy (PSA). Methods: Included were 250 stroke patients who underwent neuropsychological and neuropsychiatric assessment 3 months after stroke (baseline) and at a 6- and 12-month follow-up after baseline. Linear mixed models tested the influence of VCI in at least one cognitive domain (any VCI) or multidomain VCI (VCI in multiple cognitive domains) at baseline and domain-specific VCI at baseline on levels of depression and apathy over time, with random effects for intercept and slope. Results: Almost half of the patients showed any VCI at baseline, and any VCI was associated with increasing apathy levels from baseline to the 12-month follow-up. Patients with multidomain VCI had higher apathy scores at the 6-and 12-month follow-up compared with patients with VCI in a single cognitive domain. Domain-specific analyses showed that impaired executive function and slowed information processing speed went together with increasing apathy levels from baseline to 6-and 12-month follow-up. None of the cognitive variables predicted the course of depressive symptoms. Conclusion: Baseline VCI is associated with increasing apathy levels from baseline to the chronic stroke phase, whereas no association was found between baseline VCI and the course of depressive symptoms. Health professionals should be aware that apathy might be absent early after stroke but may evolve over time in patients with VCI.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)291-300
Number of pages10
JournalAmerican Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
Volume26
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2018

Keywords

  • Stroke
  • depression
  • apathy
  • vascular cognitive impairment
  • QUALITY-OF-LIFE
  • DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS
  • SYDNEY STROKE
  • DIAGNOSTIC-CRITERIA
  • POSTSTROKE APATHY
  • NORMATIVE DATA
  • REHABILITATION
  • PARTICIPANTS
  • PREVALENCE
  • VALIDATION

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