Validation of a Tool for the Dimensional Assessment of Apathy in a Population Suffering From Schizophrenia.
Condition: Schizophrenia
MeSH terms: Schizophrenia
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Schizophrenia affects about 1% of the world's population. According to the WHO, it was one of
      the ten most worrying pathologies of the twenty-first century. The situation of psychic
      disability that results impacted the entire life course. This disease is characterized by
      positive symptoms (delirium, hallucination, psychotic agitation) and negative symptoms and
      disorganization (destructuring of thought, language and behavior). Cognitive disorders are
      easily measurable in the spectrum of schizophrenia and are quantifiable with some tools to
      measure the level of performance of the individual in different areas.

      In these patients apathy is found in one out of two cases (prevalence of 51%), so it is a
      widespread negative symptom. Apathy corresponds to a pathology of voluntary action that can
      exist in different forms, resulting from the alteration of one or more mechanisms. It is a
      predictor of functional outcomes, regardless of positive symptoms or depression.

      Studies of people with head injuries have found a link between frontal cognitive impairment
      and apathy. The recognition, the identification of the dimensional mechanisms of apathy and
      the understanding of the links with cognitive disorders are therefore a major issue in the
      improvement of the functional prognosis. Moreover, these mechanisms are currently little
      studied in the spectrum of schizophrenia.

      There are currently questionnaires to show the presence or absence of apathy, such as the
      Apathy Evaluation Scale or the Lille Apathy Rating Scale. However most scales offer a global
      apathy score and the proposed treatments are limited due to the difficulty in identifying the
      dimensions and understanding of the underlying mechanisms of their own.

      The potentiality of apathy to become a source of disability is now widely recognized. It is
      therefore important to consider the expression of this handicap in terms of the repercussions
      that this disorder may have on the daily lives of patients. There are questionnaires to
      measure the functional autonomy of patients with a psychic disorder. Apathy is also an
      obstacle to supporting patients in psychiatry.

      The lack of knowledge and underestimation of apathy and its mechanisms in schizophrenia, in
      addition to overworking the psychiatric health sector, favor a drift towards the
      institutionalization of the person, with its medico-economic consequences on the system.
    


Intervention name(s): Validate according to psychometric criteria, a dimensional measure of apathy in a population suffering from schizophrenia spectrum disorder and other psychotic disorders (according to DSM-5 criteria).
Intervention type(s): Diagnostic Test
Intervention description(s): Validate according to psychometric criteria, a dimensional measure of apathy in a population suffering from schizophrenia spectrum disorder and other psychotic disorders (according to DSM-5 criteria).
Intervention model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Diagnostic
Keywords: apathy; schizophrenia