Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31617249›Full record

SynthesisInternational journal of geriatric psychiatry2020

Empirical support for the vascular apathy hypothesis: A structured review.

Lonneke Wouts, Marco van Kessel, Aartjan T F Beekman, Radboud M Marijnissen, Richard C Oude Voshaar

Open access · hybridAbstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in International journal of geriatric psychiatry, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
2.7field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Empirical support for the vascular apathy hypothesis: A structured review.International journal of geriatric psychiatry · 2020
    Pooled it
  3. Review
  4. Clinical Associations and Possible Risk Factors for Affective Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Older Adults With and Without Cognitive Impairment.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2026
    Article
  5. Apathy and Depression Impact on Cognitive Decline: Neuropsychological Specificities across Neurodegenerative Diseases.Archives of clinical neuropsychology : the official journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychologists · 2026
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Visit-To-Visit Blood Pressure Variability and Subthreshold Depressive Symptoms in Older Adults.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2022
    Article
  12. The enigma of vascular depression in old age: a critical update.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2022
    Review
  13. Article
  14. Pathomechanisms of Vascular Depression in Older Adults.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021
    Review
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Lonneke WoutsPro Persona, Mental Health Institute, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-4380-3255
Marco van KesselPro Persona, Mental Health Institute, The Netherlands.
Aartjan T F BeekmanGGZinGeest, Mental Health Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Radboud M MarijnissenPro Persona, Mental Health Institute, The Netherlands.
Richard C Oude VoshaarDepartment of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), Groningen, The Netherlands.
University Medical Center Groningen · NLGGZ inGeest · NLPro Persona · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesA systematic review of the relationship between subclinical small vessel disease (SSVD) in the general population and apathy to examine the hypothesis that apathy has a vascular basis.

methodsWe searched for studies on associations between apathy and SSVD, operationalized as white matter hyperintensities (WMH) or white matter diffusivity changes, lacunar infarcts, cerebral microbleeds, decreasing cortical thickness, and perivascular spaces, while also peripheral proxies for SSVD were considered, operationalized as ankle brachial pressure index (ABI), intima media thickness, arterial stiffness, cardio-femoral pulse wave velocity, hypertension, or cardiovascular disease. Only eligible retrospective and prospective observational studies conducted in the general population were included.

resultsThe 14 studies eligible for review examined the associations between apathy and hypertension (3), ABI (1), arterial stiffness (1), cardiovascular disease (2), WMH (3), white matter diffusivity (2), cerebral microbleeds (1), or cortical thickness (3). Arterial stiffness and white matter diffusivity were not related to apathy, while the associations with cortical thickness were contradictory. Cross-sectional studies in the general population did find evidence of apathy being associated with WMH, CM, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and ABI, and cardiovascular disease was prospectively associated with apathy. The methodologies of the studies reviewed were too heterogeneous to perform meta-analyses.

conclusionsAlthough more prospective evidence is needed and vascular depression needs to be controlled for, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and ABI as proxies for SSVD, and WMH and cerebral microbleeds as direct measures of SSVD have been found to be associated with apathy in the general population, supporting the hypothesis of vascular apathy.

Indexed as

ApathyEmpirical ResearchHumansObservational Studies as TopicProspective StudiesRetrospective StudiesVascular Diseasesapathycerebrovascular diseasesmall vessel diseasevascular apathy

Identifiers

PMID31617249
PMCPMC6916153
OpenAlexW2981083944

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.