ArticleAlzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Apathy as a determinant of health behaviors in older adults: Implications for dementia risk reduction.
Article in Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands). The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Apathy and Physical Activity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Physiotherapy Canada. Physiotherapie Canada · 2026Pooled it
- The social dimension of apathy: evidence for a distinct domain from 11,243 individuals across health and neurocognitive disorders.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Apathy in Mild Behavioural Impairment: Associations with Cortical Thickness and Grey Matter Volume.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Mild behavioral impairment is longitudinally associated with frailty in very old adults with MCI: insights from COGFRAIL.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2026Article
- Psychosocial determinants of exercise behavior in Parkinson's disease: a mini-review.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- Exploring the Impact of a Digital Reading Program on Apathy Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Rural Canada: Insights from Socioemotional Selectivity Theory.Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Apathy, depression, and dementia risk in older adults: A global collaborative study.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Article
- Examining apathy prevalence and associated factors among older adults after the Great East Japan Earthquake: a mixed-methods study.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- The Association of Apathy With Incident Dementia: A Multiple Mediation Analysis of Cardiovascular Risk Factors.International journal of geriatric psychiatry · 2025Article
- The Role of Nutrition and Other Lifestyle Patterns in Mortality Risk in Older Adults with Multimorbidity.Nutrients · 2025Article
- A novel method for objective quantification of apathy based on gaze and physiological reactivity to stimuli presented in a virtual reality environment.Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands)Article
- Apathy as a determinant of health behaviors in older adults: Implications for dementia risk reduction.Alzheimer's & dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands)Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionLong-term improvements in physical inactivity and other behavioral risk factors are integral to dementia risk reduction; however, sustained behavior change is challenging. Apathy, depression, and fatigue may impact engagement in health behaviors, but their presentation overlaps. This study investigates whether these symptoms are differentially associated with multiple health behaviors.
methodsIn 1037 community-dwelling older adults without dementia (aged 70-90, 55% women), regression analyses examined apathy, depression, and fatigue as predictors of health behaviors (physical activity, diet, alcohol, smoking) and a behavioral risk index.
resultsApathy was associated with reduced physical activity and alcohol use, and one or multiple behavioral risk factors. No or inconsistent relations were found between depression or fatigue and health behaviors. DISCUSSION: Apathy is relevant to multiple health behaviors and should be considered when designing health promotion for older adults, including interventions for dementia risk reduction. Findings highlight the importance of distinguishing apathy from comorbid symptoms. Highlights: Novel theory-based perspective on behavioural risk factors for dementia.Higher apathy predicted less physical activity and alcohol use, and increased odds of lifestyle risk factors.Depressive symptoms were not associated with any health behavior.Apathy may be a determinant of multiple health behaviors in older adults, distinct from depression and fatigue.Considering apathy in precision prevention of dementia appears warranted.
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Registered trials
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.