Understanding multidimensional apathy in traumatic brain injury.

Abstract

Apathy is marked by diminished motivation, goal-directed behaviours and emotional engagement. Its heterogeneous presentation across neurological conditions suggest it is not a unitary construct, but a multidimensional syndrome, encompassing behavioural, cognitive and emotional subtypes. Apathy is among the most prevalent neuropsychiatric sequelae following traumatic brain injury (TBI), yet its characterisation remains understudied and inconsistently defined. Narrow assessments used in previous research overlook the multidimensional nature of apathy. We aimed to better understand multidimensional apathy following moderate-to-severe TBI – particularly in its behavioural, cognitive and emotional domains – and examine the association between apathy severity and injury-related factors and outcome, including productivity and quality of life.