Abstract: Abstract: Objective To investigate the incidence and its related factors of apathy in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Methods A total of 100 consecutive cases of ischemic stroke patients and 50 health controls were recruited in the present study. Apathy was assessed using modified apathy evaluation scale (MAES). According to the MAES score, acute ischemic stroke patients were divided into apathy group (MAES was more than 14 points) and non- apathy group. The differences of general information, clinical data, national institutes of health stroke scale (NIHSS), Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA), Hamilton depression scale (HAMD), modified rankin scale (mRS) and the lesion location were compared between the two groups. Differences that showed statistical significance (P < 0.05) went into the multi-factor analysis. The Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the influence factors of apathy. Results There were 34 cases of apathy in patient group (34.00%), which was significantly higher than those of control group (3 cases of apathy, 6.00%, P＜0.001). The age, incidence of diabetes, NIHSS score, HAMD score, lesions in brain stem and multiple lesions were significantly higher in apathy group than that of non-apathy group, while educational level, MoCA score were significantly lower (P < 0.05). The Logistic regression analysis showed that the higher MoCA score was a protective factor for apathy, while higher NIHSS score,lesions in brain stem and multiple lesions were risk factors for the incidence apathy. Conclusion The cognitive impairment, severity of neurological deficits, brainstem lesions and multiple lesions may be the risk factors of apathy after the occurrence of acute ischemic stroke.

Key words: mood disorders, Logistic models, risk factors, acute ischemic stroke, apathyAcute ischemic stroke