TY - JOUR
T1 - Pharmacological and Nonpharmacological Treatment for Apathy in Alzheimer Disease
T2 - A Systematic Review Across Modalities
AU - Theleritis, Christos
AU - Siarkos, Kostas
AU - Katirtzoglou, Everina
AU - Politis, Antonis
PY - 2017/1/1
Y1 - 2017/1/1
N2 - Objective: Apathy is one of the most frequent neuropsychiatric symptoms encountered in Alzheimer disease (AD). Early diagnosis and timely treatment of apathy in AD seem to be of great importance, since apathy has been associated with poor disease outcome, reduced daily functioning, and caregiver distress. Design: Within this context, we conducted an extensive electronic search from the databases included in the National Library of Medicine as well as PsychInfo and Google Scholar for studies that have investigated the effect of pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments of apathy in AD. Results: Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, gingko biloba, methylphenidate, and a variety of nonpharmacological interventions were found to be successful in reducing apathy in patients with AD. Methodological heterogeneity of the studies and the small amount of studies where apathy was a primary outcome measure are limiting factors to evaluate for group effects. Conclusion: Treatment of apathy in AD is a complicated and an underexplored field. Standardized and systematic efforts primarily focused on the study of apathy in AD may establish a benefit from individualized treatment for specific disease groups that would stem from a combination of both pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions.
AB - Objective: Apathy is one of the most frequent neuropsychiatric symptoms encountered in Alzheimer disease (AD). Early diagnosis and timely treatment of apathy in AD seem to be of great importance, since apathy has been associated with poor disease outcome, reduced daily functioning, and caregiver distress. Design: Within this context, we conducted an extensive electronic search from the databases included in the National Library of Medicine as well as PsychInfo and Google Scholar for studies that have investigated the effect of pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments of apathy in AD. Results: Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, gingko biloba, methylphenidate, and a variety of nonpharmacological interventions were found to be successful in reducing apathy in patients with AD. Methodological heterogeneity of the studies and the small amount of studies where apathy was a primary outcome measure are limiting factors to evaluate for group effects. Conclusion: Treatment of apathy in AD is a complicated and an underexplored field. Standardized and systematic efforts primarily focused on the study of apathy in AD may establish a benefit from individualized treatment for specific disease groups that would stem from a combination of both pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions.
KW - Alzheimer disease
KW - apathy
KW - dementia
KW - nonpharmacological
KW - pharmacological
KW - treatment
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U2 - 10.1177/0891988716678684
DO - 10.1177/0891988716678684
M3 - Review article
C2 - 28248559
AN - SCOPUS:85006399760
SN - 0891-9887
VL - 30
SP - 26
EP - 49
JO - Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology
JF - Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology
IS - 1
ER -