[Prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms of people with dementia in long-term care units: A secondary analysis]. / Prävalenz von neuropsychiatrischen Symptomen bei Menschen mit Demenz in der stationären Langzeitpflege.

Prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms of people with dementia in long-term care units: A secondary analysis Abstract: Background: In a progress of dementia, most people develop neuropsychiatric symptoms. However, there is little knowledge about the prevalence of these symptoms and their specific characteristics in long-term care. Aims: A differentiated investigation of the prevalence and characteristics of neuropsychiatric symptoms in people with dementia in a long-term care setting. Methods: The prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms of people with dementia in a long-term care setting was examined using a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from the research projects LebenQD I and II and FallDem. The data were collected using the neuropsychiatric inventory - nursing home version. The analysis included data from 699 people with dementia from a total of 21 long-term care facilities in North Rhine-Westphalia. Results: The symptoms agitation/aggression (36%), depression/dysphoria (33%), apathy/indifference (33%), irritability/lability (30%) and aberrant motor behaviour show the highest prevalence. The symptoms hallucinations (9%) and euphoria/elation (6%) have the lowest prevalence. Conclusions: The high prevalence of specific neuropsychiatric symptoms and their characteristics in people with dementia illustrates the need for care-related or psychosocial interventions to counteract the reasons for the occurrence of the symptoms.

Perspectives on sleep of people living with dementia in nursing homes: a qualitative interview study.

BACKGROUND: Disturbed sleep among people living with dementia in nursing homes is widespread and is associated with diseases and all-cause mortality. This study examined the sleep of people living with dementia from their perspectives in nursing homes and that of the nurses who care for people living with dementia. METHODS: A qualitative cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 15 people living with dementia and 15 nurses in 11 German nursing homes were enrolled in this study. Data was collected between February and August 2021 through semistructured interviews, which were audio recorded and transcribed. Thematic analyses were performed by three independent researchers. Thematic mind maps and controversial findings were discussed with the Research Working Group of People with Dementia of the German Alzheimer Association. RESULTS: Thematic analysis identified five overarching themes from the nursing home participants regarding sleep patterns: (1) characteristics of good sleep, (2) characteristics of bad sleep, (3) personal influences of people living with dementia on sleep, (4) environmental factors on sleep, and (5) sleep strategies of people living with dementia. Analysis also identified five overarching themes from the nurses participants: (1) characteristics of good sleep, (2) characteristics of bad sleep, (3) personal influences on sleep, (4) environmental factors on sleep, and (5) interventions for sleep promotion. CONCLUSIONS: The thematic analyses demonstrated that the perspectives of people living with dementia and nurses indicate the need to give more consideration to psychosocial factors and individual aspects of sleep in clinical practice. The results could also be helpful for the development of targeted assessment instruments and complex non-pharmacological interventions to promote sleep.

Interne Konsistenz und Konstruktvalidität des demenzspezifischen Lebensqualitätsinstruments QUALIDEM - Eine Sekundärdatenanalyse einer Querschnittserhebung.

Internal consistency and construct validity of the Quality of Life measurement in dementia QUALIDEM - a secondary data analysis of cross-sectional data Abstract. Background: Maintaining and improving the Quality of Life (QoL) of people with dementia is the principal aim of nursing and medical care. The QUALIDEM is a theory-based, dementia-specific QoL instrument in the German language. Until now, however, there are hardly any findings on the construct validity. OBJECTIVE: Evaluation of the item difficulty, internal consistency, discriminant and convergent validity of the German QUALIDEM. METHOD: The evaluation of the construct validity is based on a Multi-Trait-One-Method approach, using a sample of 167 people with mild to severe dementia and 71 people with very severe dementia. RESULTS: The correlation between the QUALIDEM subscales and the comparative constructs agitation, depression, anxiety, aberrant motoric behavior, apathy, pain and QoL, measured with the Alzheimer's Disease Related Quality of Life instrument, was confirmed in the expected direction in 82 % of the predefined hypotheses. The correlation coefficients range between 0.04 and -0.60 (discriminant validity) and -0.21 and 0.71 (convergent validity). For the majority of QUALIDEM subscales a good internal consistency could be demonstrated. CONCLUSION: The results indicate first indications for the construct validity of the QUALIDEM subscales and for the further development of the instrument. In future studies, the validity of the German QUALIDEM should be further investigated.