The Italian Version of the ALS Depression Inventory-12

Debora Pain; Edoardo Nicolò Aiello; Marcello Gallucci; Massimo Miglioretti; Gabriele Mora

doi:10.3389/fneur.2021.723776

The Italian Version of the ALS Depression Inventory-12

Front Neurol. 2021 Sep 24:12:723776. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2021.723776. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Debora Pain¹, Edoardo Nicolò Aiello^{2

3}, Marcello Gallucci⁴, Massimo Miglioretti⁴, Gabriele Mora¹

Affiliations

¹ Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri, IRCCS, Neurorehabilitation Department of Milano Institute, Milan, Italy.
² School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy.
³ PhD Program in Neuroscience, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy.
⁴ Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.

Abstract

Introduction: Depression is a comorbidity in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, its diagnosis is challenged by the co-occurrence of a similar frontotemporal (FT) behavioral symptom-i.e., apathy. Moreover, its psychometric evaluation is confounded by motor disabilities. This study aimed at investigating psychometric properties and feasibility of the ALS Depression Inventory (ADI-12), a self-report questionnaire set up for this issue-as measuring mood changes without referring to movement. Methods: Eighty-five ALS patients were administered the ADI-12 and underwent cognitive (Mini-Mental State Examination, MMSE), quality of life (McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire, MQoL) and further anxiety/mood (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, HADS) assessments. Reliability, validity, sensitivity, and specificity of the ADI-12 were explored. Results: Principal component analyses revealed two related components-"Negative Mood and Lack of Energy" (ME) and "Anhedonia" (A). Both components and the inventory as a whole were internally consistent and highly related to HADS-D. ADI-12-total score was also associated with HADS-A. ADI-12 measures were inversely related to MQoL. ADI-12-total/sub-scales were not related to either MMSE or disease-related outcomes. Estimates of depression yielded by HADS-D and ADI-12 were 11.1 and 35.3%. Discussion: The ADI-12 is a valid, reliable and usable feasibile tool to assess depression in Italian ALS patients independently from motor disabilities. Its interplay with psycho-social outcomes is in agreement with previous studies. The lack of association with cognition suggests that the ADI-12 is partially independent from FT spectrum disorders. The disagreement in depression rates between the ADI-12 and HADS-D suggests the need to ALS-specific mood scales.

Keywords: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; apathy; depression; frontotemporal dementia; neuropsychology; psychometrics.