Affiliations: [a] CH des vallées de l’Ariège, EHPAD et Consultations mémoire, Foix, France
| [b] CNRS, UMR 9193 - SCALab - Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, Université Lille, Lille, France
| [c] CERPPS, Centre d’Etudes et de Recherche enPsychopathologie et Psychologie de la Santé, EA7411, Université Jean Jaurès, Toulouse, France | [d] LabEx DISTALZ - Development of InnovativeStrategies for a Transdisciplinary Approach to ALZheimer’s Disease, Lille, France
Correspondence:
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Correspondence to: Jean-Pierre Jacus, CH des vallées de l’Ariège, Foix, France. Tel.: +33 (0) 6 85 07 64 72; Fax: +33 (0) 5 61 03 31 75; E-mail: jeanpierrej@chi-val-ariege.fr.
Abstract: Previous studies have reported the major role of apathy in awareness assessment among Alzheimer’s patients using the patient-caregiver discrepancy method, whatever the awareness dimension assessed. Using the Apathy Evaluation Scales among other awareness scales, we report that apathy is the sole awareness dimension distinguishing healthy controls (25), mild (57) and moderate-to-moderately-severe (11) Alzheimer’s patients. A linear regression showed that the Mini-Mental State Examination score used as a risk factor for non-awareness was the only factor associated with awareness of apathy and was the best predictor. This suggests that apathy is the most discriminant dimension for awareness assessment in Alzheimer’s disease.
