We appreciate the readers' comments on the prevalence and impact of apathy on quality of life among individuals with Parkinson disease. In constructing our survey instrument, we discussed the inclusion of apathy as a symptom. However, we ultimately opted against inclusion because of concerns about the specificity of terminology in our online survey. Patients and care partners may not be familiar with the term “apathy,”and near-synonyms such as “reduced motivation” have substantial overlap with other nonmotor features. Still, as the readers point out, apathy is extremely common and under-recognized. Similar to many of the nonmotor symptoms identified in our study,1 we agree that clinicians should be screening for apathy among those with Parkinson disease.
Footnotes
Author disclosures are available upon request (ncpjournal{at}neurology.org)
- © 2020 American Academy of Neurology
References
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