Valles Katherine J, Ayers Emmeline, Verghese Joe, Ceïde Mirnova E
Department of Psychiatry, Eastern Connecticut Health Network, Manchester, CT 06040, USA.
Division of Cognitive and Motor Aging, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2025 Jul 18;22(7):1138. doi: 10.3390/ijerph22071138.
Apathy predicts functional and cognitive decline in community-dwelling older adults. However, the behavioral correlates of apathy, which could promote cognitive decline have not been described. Our objective was to investigate the associations of apathy with leisure and social engagement.
= 538 older adults enrolled in the Central Control of Mobility in Aging study. We used the GDS3A, a 3-item subscale of the Geriatric Depression Scale, to define apathy and the frequency of participation in cognitive, physical, and social leisure activities. Linear regression models were conducted to assess the association between apathy and its behavioral correlates: social engagement and leisure activity participation. Covariates included age, gender, education level, multimorbidity, and dysphoria.
Apathy was present in 29.7% of participants and was significantly associated with less frequent participation in physical activity days per week (-1.688. = 0.003) but not cognitive (-1.094, = 0.252) or social (-0.654, = 0.103) leisure activities. Apathy was also associated with a decreased social behavior composite score (-0.055, < 0.001), Social Network Index (-0.478, = 0.003), and Medical Outcomes Study Social Support scores (-0.26, = 0.001).
Our findings suggest that apathy presents with reduced participation in physical leisure activities and reduced social engagement, which may provide a way for clinicians and caregivers to identify apathy in the future.
冷漠预示着社区居住的老年人功能和认知能力的衰退。然而，尚未描述可能促成认知衰退的冷漠行为相关因素。我们的目标是研究冷漠与休闲和社交参与之间的关联。
538名老年人参与了衰老过程中运动的中央控制研究。我们使用老年抑郁量表的一个3项子量表GDS3A来定义冷漠以及参与认知、身体和社交休闲活动的频率。进行线性回归模型以评估冷漠与其行为相关因素之间的关联：社交参与和休闲活动参与。协变量包括年龄、性别、教育水平、多种疾病和烦躁不安。
29.7%的参与者存在冷漠，且与每周参与体育活动的天数减少显著相关（-1.688，P = 0.003），但与认知休闲活动（-1.094，P = 0.252）或社交休闲活动（-0.6,54，P = 0.103）无关。冷漠还与社交行为综合评分降低（-0.055，P < 0.001）、社交网络指数（-0.478，P = 0.003）和医学结局研究社会支持评分（-0.26，P = 0.001）相关。
我们的研究结果表明，冷漠表现为参与身体休闲活动减少和社交参与减少，这可能为临床医生和护理人员未来识别冷漠提供一种方法。
