Depression and Apathy across Different Variants of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy

BACKGROUND: Apathy and depression commonly occur in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP)‐Richardson's syndrome variant; depression often requiring treatment. Little is known, however, about apathy and depression among other PSP variants. METHODS: We prospectively studied 97 newly diagnosed PSP patients. All were classified into a PSP variant using the 2017 Movement Disorder Society‐PSP criteria and administered the Geriatric Depression and Apathy Evaluation Scales. Differences in apathy and depression frequency and severity across six variants, and secondarily across PSP‐Richardson's syndrome, PSP‐Cortical and PSP‐Subcortical, were analyzed using ANCOVA and linear regression adjusting for disease severity. RESULTS: Depression (55%) was more common than apathy (12%). PSP‐Speech/Language (PSP‐SL) variant had the lowest depression frequency (13%) and lower depression scores than the other variants. No differences in apathy frequency/severity were identified. CONCLUSION: PSP‐SL patients may have less depression compared to PSP‐Richardson's syndrome and other PSP variants.