The relationship between meaning in life and apathy in people with Parkinson's disease: a cross-sectional analysis

Background: Apathy remains a common and problematic neuropsychiatric feature associated with Parkinson's disease resulting in reductions in health-related quality of life, and effective treatments remain elusive. Meaning in life (MIL) has been implicated in a variety of positive health outcomes, and this study assesses the relationship between apathy and MIL while hoping to identify a potential new interventional target.

Methods: A cross-sectional sample of 237 PwPD completed surveys to evaluate MIL and a variety of non-motor symptoms (NMS), and a hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to evaluate relationships of interest.

Results: Correlational analysis indicated the presence of meaning in life was statistically negatively and moderately to strongly correlated with apathy (r = - 0.60, p < .001). Hierarchical regression analysis results showed that presence of meaning in life explained a total of 48% of variance in apathy. More specifically, the presence of meaning in life (β = - 0.43, p < .001) was associated with apathy after controlling for sociodemographic and other potentially confounding variables.

Conclusions: This study demonstrates the significant negative relationship between MIL and apathy. Considering the lack of effective treatments for apathy, which is one of the most disabling symptoms affecting PwPD, identifying a potential target for intervention is exciting. MIL has the potential to offer clinicians a novel intervention to provide a much-needed treatment option to improve both apathy and HRQoL.