Assessment of apathy independent of physical disability: validation of the Dimensional Apathy Scale in Italian healthy sample

Apathy is well described in neurodegenerative diseases characterized by motor disability; therefore, assessment of apathy avoiding possible confounding effects of motor impairments is necessary in neurological diseases. Recently, the Dimensional Apathy Scale (DAS) was developed to assess apathy as multifaceted construct, independent of physical disability. We developed the Italian version of the Dimensional Apathy Scale (I-DAS) and explored its psychometric properties in a sample of 309 healthy individuals. Participants also completed Apathy Evaluation Scale, Beck Depression Inventory-II and Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination-Revised. The I-DAS showed high internal consistency, good convergent and divergent validity. The I-DAS had a three-factor structure, such as the original scale. The I-DAS scored was significantly correlated with individuals’ education, but not with age or gender. We, therefore, computed correction factor for education and provided percentile distribution of the adjusted scores to identify individuals with high levels of apathy. The I-DAS showed good psychometric properties and can be a valid and reliable tool to assess multidimensional apathy.