Animal-assisted therapy and agitation and depression in nursing home residents with dementia: a matched case-control trial.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the efficacy of animal-assisted therapy (AAT) on symptoms of agitation/aggression and depression in nursing home residents with dementia in a randomized controlled trial. Previous studies have indicated that AAT has beneficial effects on neuropsychiatric symptoms in various psychiatric disorders but few studies have investigated the efficacy of AAT in patients suffering from dementia. METHODS: Of 65 nursing home residents with dementia (mean [standard deviation] age: 81.8 [9.2] years; mean Mini-Mental State Examination score: 7.1 [0.7]), 27 matched pairs (N = 54) were randomly assigned to either treatment as usual or treatment as usual combined with AAT, administered over 10 weekly sessions. Blinded raters assessed cognitive impairment with the Mini-Mental State Examination, presence of agitation/aggression with the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory, and depression with the Dementia Mood Assessment Scale at baseline and during a period of 4 weeks after AAT intervention. RESULTS: In the control group, symptoms of agitation/aggression and depression significantly increased over 10 weeks; in the intervention group, patients receiving combined treatment displayed constant frequency and severity of symptoms of agitation/aggression (F1,48 = 6.43; p <0.05) and depression (F1,48 = 26.54; p <0.001). Symptom amelioration did not occur in either group. CONCLUSIONS: AAT is a promising option for the treatment of agitation/aggression and depression in patients with dementia. Our results suggest that AAT may delay progression of neuropsychiatric symptoms in demented nursing home residents. Further research is needed to determine its long-time effects.

Agitation in nursing home residents with dementia (VIDEANT trial): effects of a cluster-randomized, controlled, guideline implementation trial.

OBJECTIVE: To test the effect of a complex guideline-based intervention on agitation and psychotropic prescriptions. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS: Cluster randomized controlled trial (VIDEANT) with blinded assessment of outcome in 18 nursing homes in Berlin, Germany, comprising 304 dementia patients. INTERVENTION: Training, support, and activity therapy intervention, delivered at the level of each nursing home, focusing on the management of agitation in dementia. Control group nursing homes received treatment as usual. MEASUREMENTS: Levels of agitated and disruptive behavior (Cohen-Mansfield agitation inventory [CMAI]) as the primary outcome. Number of neuroleptics, antidepressants, and cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) prescribed in defined daily dosages (DDDs). RESULTS: Of 326 patients screened, 304 (93.3%) were eligible and cluster-randomized to 9 intervention (n = 163) and 9 control (n = 141) nursing homes. Data were collected from 287 (94.4%) patients at 10 months. At 10 months, compared with controls, nursing home residents with dementia in the intervention group exhibited significantly less agitation as measured with the CMAI (adjusted mean difference, 6.24; 95% CI 2.03-14.14; P = .009; Cohen's d = 0.43), received fewer neuroleptics (P < .05), more ChEIs (P < .05), and more antidepressants (P < .05). CONCLUSION: Complex guideline-based interventions are effective in reducing agitated and disruptive behavior in nursing home residents with dementia. At the same time, increased prescription of ChEIs and antidepressants together with decreased neuroleptic prescription suggests an effect toward guideline-based pharmacotherapy.

Correlates of agitation and depression in nursing home residents with dementia.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between dementia severity, age, gender, and prescription of psychotropics, and syndromes of agitation and depression in a sample of nursing home residents with dementia. METHODS: The Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI) was administered to residents with dementia (N = 304) of 18 nursing homes. Agitation symptoms were clustered using factorial analysis. Depression was estimated using the Dementia Mood Assessment Scale (DMAS). Dementia severity was assessed categorically using predefined cut-off scores derived from the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). The relationship between agitation and its sub-syndromes, depression, and dementia severity was calculated using χ 2-statistics. Linear regression analyses were used to calculate the effect of dementia severity and psychotropic prescriptions on agitation and depression, controlling for age and gender. RESULTS: Increasing stages of dementia severity were associated with higher risk for physically aggressive (p < 0.001) and non-aggressive (p < 0.01) behaviors, verbally agitated behavior (p < 0.05), and depression (p < 0.001). Depressive symptoms were associated with physically aggressive (p < 0.001) and verbally agitated (p < 0.05) behaviors, beyond the effects of dementia severity. Prescription of antipsychotics was correlated with depression and all agitation sub-syndromes except hiding and hoarding. CONCLUSIONS: Dementia severity is a predictor for agitation and depression. Beyond that, depression increased with dementia severity, and the severity of depression was associated with both physically and verbally aggressive behaviors, indicating that, in advanced stages of dementia, depression in some patients might underlie aggressive behavior.

The pharmacotherapy of neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia: a cross-sectional study in 18 homes for the elderly in Berlin.

BACKGROUND: The neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia, including aggressiveness, agitation, depression, and apathy are often treated with psychotropic drugs and are a frequent reason for hospitalization, placing an economic burden on the health care system. International guidelines recommend syndrome-specific pharmacotherapy. We studied the question whether drug-prescribing practices are, in fact, syndrome-specific. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study in 18 homes for the elderly in Berlin, we used syndrome-specific scales to determine the prevalence of apathy, depression, and aggressiveness and the quantity of psychotropic drugs prescribed, in defined daily dosages (DDD), among 304 demented inhabitants. The diagnosis of dementia was ascertained by chart review and confirmed by administration of a mini mental status test. RESULTS: More than 90% of the demented patients had neuropsychiatric symptoms, most commonly apathy (78%). 52% were treated with neuroleptic drugs, 30% with antidepressants and 17% with anti-dementia agents. There was no significant difference between the frequency of neuroleptic treatment given to apathetic and depressed patients and that given to aggressive patients (chi(2) = 7.03; p = 0.32). CONCLUSION: Although our sample of patients was not representative, these findings suggest that neuropsychiatric symptoms in demented patients are not being treated in syndrome-specific fashion. This is troubling, because neuroleptic medications administered to demented patients can have serious adverse effects, including an elevated mortality. The German guidelines for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disturbances were recently published; the findings presented here suggest that their implementation would be advantageous.

[Pharmacotherapy of neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia in nursing homes: a comparison of service provision by psychiatric outpatient clinics and primary care psychiatrists]. / Pharmakotherapie von neuropsychiatrischen Symptomen bei Demenz in Altenpflegeheimen: Ein Vergleich der Versorgung durch psychiatrische Institutsambulanzen und niedergelassene Fachärzte.

BACKGROUND: Neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia like agitation, depression and apathy often result in increased prescriptions of psychotropics. In Germany, outpatient clinics at psychiatric hospitals play an important role in the treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms in nursing homes. The aim of this study was to test whether the severity and pharmacotherapy differed in patients treated by outpatient clinics at psychiatric hospitals, as compared to primary care specialists. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of the prevalence of agitation, apathy, and depression, and the amount of psychotropics prescribed in defined daily dosages (DDD) in 304 residents with dementia in 18 Berlin nursing homes. RESULTS: Patients treated by outpatient clinics at psychiatric hospitals suffered from more severe neuropsychiatric symptoms (p < 0.05), were prescribed more antidepressants and antidementia agents (p < 0.05) and, when adjusting for the severity of agitation, less neuroleptics (p < 0.05) as compared to primary care specialists. CONCLUSION: Psychiatric outpatient clinics at hospitals treat more severely demented patients who suffer from severe neuropsychiatric symptoms. The pharmacotherapy provided by these clinics displays a favourable profile according to established treatment guidelines.

[How Can we provide better services for demented nursing home residents suffering from apathy?]. / Wie können demenzkranke Pflegeheimbewohner mit Apathie besser versorgt werden?

Behavioural and psychological symptoms of Dementia include agitation, depression and apathy. Apathy is a common condition and a major challenge especially in nursing home residents. The development of a brief intervention for nursing home residents combining physical activation and reminiscence therapy in order to reactivating apathic residents and increasing their quality of life will be described.

[Gerontopsychiatry versus general psychiatry in the inpatient treatment in late-life depression]. / Gerontopsychiatrie versus Allgemeinpsychiatrie bei stationärer Behandlung von Depressionen im höheren Lebensalter.

OBJECTIVE: Is the integrated treatment of depressed elderly patients on a geriatric psychiatry unit superior to the treatment on a general psychiatry unit? METHOD: Retrospective comparison of treatment outcomes of depression in elderly patients on geriatric and general psychiatry units. RESULTS: The clinical outcome showed comparable results. Somatic examinations turned out to be more comprehensive on a geriatric psychiatry unit, which also showed better results in pharmacotherapeutic safety. CONCLUSIONS: Regarding risk management, geriatric psychiatry units proved superior to general psychiatry units.