Effects of Depression, Apathy and Anxiety in Hispanic Parkinson Disease Individuals' Cognition

Previous research in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) found that heightened apathy is associated with worse executive function. Most studies to-date have involved primarily White, non-Hispanic individuals. Indeed, recent research suggests that mood/motivation's relationship to cognitive decline differs between Hispanic and non-Hispanic individuals (Thakur et al., 2021). In this study, we examined relationships between depression, apathy, anxiety, and cognition in Hispanic PD participants who were seen in a specialized movement disorders center.Participants included 31 non-demented Hispanic individuals with PD (age mean = 59.94, SD = 8.49 years; education mean = 14.39, SD = 2.79; 83.9% male) who completed neuropsychological and mood measures (Beck Depression Inventory-II, Apathy Scale, STAI-Trait Anxiety Scale). Prevalence estimates were calculated using established cut-offs (BDI-II:14, AS:14, STAI-Trait:40). Cognitive raw scores were z-scored and averaged into the composites: attention (WAIS-III Digit Span Forward, Backward), processing speed (Stroop Word, Trails A), executive function (Trails B, Stroop Color-Word), and memory (Hopkin's Verbal Learning Test, WMS-III Logical Memory delayed recalls). Non-parametric partial correlations (correcting for age/education) assessed mood and cognitive composite relationships.17% had clinically significant depressive symptoms, 12% had apathy, and 35% had anxiety. More depressive symptoms were significantly associated with worse memory (r = -0.54, p = 0.007). Greater anxiety symptoms trended with worse processing speed (r = -0.41, p = 0.065) and memory (r = -0.38, p = 0.094). Apathy did not relate to cognition (p's > 0.05).This pattern of associations differs from existing studies with predominantly White, non-Hispanic samples (Butterfield et al., 2010; Ratajska, et al.,2022), highlighting the importance of further investigating ethnic differences in PD.