Prevalence and treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms in advanced dementia

Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) are common in dementia, although little is known about their prevalence and treatment near the end of life. This study used a retrospective review of the medical records of 123 hospice-eligible nursing home residents with advanced dementia to investigate the prevalenc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of gerontological nursing Vol. 34; no. 12; pp. 8 - 14
Main Authors Kverno, Karan S, Rabins, Peter V, Blass, David M, Hicks, Kathryn L, Black, Betty S
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States SLACK INCORPORATED 01.12.2008
Subjects
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Behavior Control - methods
Behavioral Symptoms - epidemiology
Behavioral Symptoms - therapy
Caregivers
Dementia
Dementia - epidemiology
Dementia - therapy
Enrollments
Female
Health Services Needs and Demand
Humans
Male
Maryland - epidemiology
Medical records
Nursing homes
Nursing Homes - statistics & numerical data
Palliative care
Prevalence
Psychosis
Psychotropic Drugs - therapeutic use
Quality of life
Retrospective Studies
Safety Management
Maryland
United States > US
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Summary:Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) are common in dementia, although little is known about their prevalence and treatment near the end of life. This study used a retrospective review of the medical records of 123 hospice-eligible nursing home residents with advanced dementia to investigate the prevalence of NPS and NPS-targeted pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments. The most prevalent NPS were agitation or aggression (50.4%), depression (45.5%), and withdrawal/lethargy (43.1%). Of the 105 (85.4%) residents who exhibited one or more NPS, 90.5% were receiving at least one NPS-targeted treatment, yet 41.9% received no documented nonpharmacological NPS-targeted care. The majority of documented nonpharmacological care focused on safety and explanations or instructions given to residents. Given the high prevalence of comorbidities, associated risks for medication interactions or serious side effects, and potential low-risk benefits of psychobehavioral care, these findings raise concerns about how to best increase the provision and documentation of nonpharmacological care in advanced dementia.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:0098-9134
1938-243X
DOI:10.3928/00989134-20081201-03