ArticleNeurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology2021
Italian version of the Starkstein Apathy Scale (SAS-I) and a shortened version (SAS-6) to assess "pure apathy" symptoms: normative study on 392 individuals.
Article in Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Psychometrics, diagnostics and usability of Italian tools assessing behavioural and functional outcomes in neurological, geriatric and psychiatric disorders: a systematic review.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2022Pooled it
- 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 · 2026Article
- Apathy-depression overlap: unmasking hidden disability profiles in multiple sclerosis.Frontiers in neurology · 2026Article
- Adaptation of the Caregiver Version of the Starkstein Apathy Scale (SAS) into Turkish and Investigation of Its Reliability and Validity in Parkinson's Disease.Noro psikiyatri arsivi · 2026Article
- Exploring apathy components and their relationship in cognitive decline: insights from a network cross-sectional study.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Evaluation of apathy in non-clinical populations: validation, psychometric properties, and normative data of the Italian version of Apathy-Motivation Index (AMI).Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2023Article
- Psychometrics and diagnostics of the Italian version of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) in Parkinson's disease.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2023Article
- Neuropsychology of posteromedial parietal cortex and conversion factors from Mild Cognitive Impairment to Alzheimer's disease: systematic search and state-of-the-art review.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2022Review
- Article
- Neuropsychiatric Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Alzheimer's Disease: A Comparative Study of Total and Partial Lockdown.Sisli Etfal Hastanesi tip bulteni · 2022Article
- Objective Knowledge Mediates the Relationship between the Use of Social Media and COVID-19-Related False Memories.Brain sciences · 2021Article
- Psychometric properties of the STAI-Y scales and normative data in an Italian elderly population.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2021Article
- Obese Subjects without Eating Disorders Experience Binge Episodes Also Independently of Emotional Eating and Personality Traits among University Students of Southern Italy.Brain sciences · 2021Article
- Time of isolation, education and gender influence the psychological outcome during COVID-19 lockdown in caregivers of patients with dementia.European geriatric medicine · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe present normative study aimed to (1) develop the Italian version of the Starkstein Apathy Scale (SAS-I) and (2) construct a shortened version including only the most sensitive items to "pure apathy" experiences.
methodsThe normative sample included 392 healthy subjects. A regression-based procedure was used to explore the effects of sex, age, and education on the raw SAS-I score. A correction grid was designed for adjusting raw scores by adding or subtracting the contribution of any significant variable and net of sociodemographic interindividual differences. Cutoff scores were also calculated and fixed at the external tolerance limit on the ninety-fifth centile. To obtain the shortened version, each SAS-I item was correlated with the Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI) score. The only items showing no correlation with BDI were implemented to bypass the well-known overlap between apathetic and depressive symptoms.
resultsThe mean raw SAS-I score was 11.27 (SD = 4.42). A significant education effect was observed, with highly educated subjects obtaining lower scores than lowly educated ones. The proposed general cutoff score was 20.68. The SAS-I had fair internal consistency and discriminant validity. Internal consistency increased by removing item 3. The new SAS-6 included items 1, 2, 4, 10, 11, and 13 of the original scale.
conclusionThe SAS-I is a reliable assessment tool to support the diagnosis of apathy. The SAS-6, instead, is a brief questionnaire useful for quickly screening apathetic symptoms in outpatient practice, addressing or not the clinician to further investigations.
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