Congratulations to Drs. Michael S Okun, Aysegul Gunduz, and Dawn Bowers on the publication of “Co-Occurrence of Apathy and Impulse Control Disorders in Parkinson Disease: Variation across Multiple Measures.” which was published in the May 2024 edition of Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology.
Abstract
Objective
To determine if the co-occurrence of apathy and impulse control disorders (ICDs) in Parkinson disease is dependent on instrument selection and assess the concurrent validity of three motivation measures by examining interrelationships between them.
Method
Ninety-seven cognitively normal individuals with idiopathic Parkinson disease (PD) completed the Questionnaire for Impulsive-Compulsive Disorders in Parkinson Disease–Rating Scale (QUIP-RS) and three apathy measures: the Apathy Scale, Lille Apathy Rating Scale, and Item 4 of the Movement Disorder Society–Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale.
Results
Fifty (51.5%) participants were classified as apathetic on at least one measure, and only four individuals (4.3%) obtained clinically elevated scores on all three measures. The co-occurrence of apathy and ICD varied across measures.
Conclusions
We observed a co-occurrence of apathy and ICDs in PD patients with each apathy instrument; however, limited concurrent validity exists across measures. This is important for future investigations into shared pathophysiology and the design of future clinical trials aimed at improving the early detection and treatment of these debilitating syndromes.