The impact of a hospital-based special care unit on behavioural and psychological symptoms in older people living with dementia.

BACKGROUND: Hospital patients with behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are vulnerable to a range of adverse outcomes. Hospital-based Special Care Units (SCUs) are secure dementia-enabling environments providing specialised gerontological care. Due to a scarcity of research, their value remains unconfirmed. OBJECTIVE: To compare hospital based SCU management of BPSD with standard care. DESIGN: Single-case multiple baseline design. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: One-hundred admissions to an 8-bed SCU over 2 years in a large Australian public hospital. METHODS: Repeated measures of BPSD severity were undertaken prospectively by specialist dementia nurses for patients admitted to a general ward (standard care) and transferred to the SCU. Demographic and other clinical data, including diagnoses, medication use, and care-related outcomes were obtained from medical records retrospectively. Analysis used multilevel models to regress BPSD scores onto care-setting outcomes, adjusting for time and other factors. RESULTS: When receiving standard care, patients' BPSD severity was 6.8 (95% CI 6.04-7.64) points higher for aggression, 15.6 (95% CI 13.90-17.42) points higher for the neuropsychiatric inventory, and 5.8 (95% CI 5.14-6.50) points higher for non-aggressive agitation compared to SCU. Patients receiving standard care also experienced increased odds for patient-to-nurse violence (OR 2.61, 95% CI 1.67-4.09), security callouts (OR 5.39 95% CI 3.40-8.52), physical restraint (OR 17.20, 95% CI 7.94-37.25) and antipsychotic administration (OR 3.41, 95% CI 1.60-7.24). CONCLUSION: Clinically significant reductions in BPSD and psychotropic administration were associated with SCU care relative to standard ward care. These results suggest more robust investigation of hospital SCUs, and dementia-enabling design are warranted.

A single-blind, parallel-group randomised trial of a Technology-assisted and remotely delivered Cognitive Behavioural Therapy intervention (Tech-CBT) versus usual care to reduce anxiety in people with mild cognitive impairment and dementia: study protocol for a randomised trial.

BACKGROUND: Anxiety is commonly experienced by people living with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. Whilst there is strong evidence for late-life anxiety treatment using cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and delivery via telehealth, there is little evidence for the remote delivery of psychological treatment for anxiety in people living with MCI and dementia. This paper reports the protocol for the Tech-CBT study which aims to investigate the efficacy, cost-effectiveness, usability and acceptability of a technology-assisted and remotely delivered CBT intervention to enhance delivery of anxiety treatment for people living with MCI and dementia of any aetiology. METHODS: A hybrid II single-blind, parallel-group randomised trial of a Tech-CBT intervention (n = 35) versus usual care (n = 35), with in-built mixed methods process and economic evaluations to inform future scale-up and implementation into clinical practice. The intervention (i) consists of six weekly sessions delivered by postgraduate psychology trainees via telehealth video-conferencing, (ii) incorporates voice assistant app technology for home-based practice, and (iii) utilises a purpose-built digital platform, My Anxiety Care. The primary outcome is change in anxiety as measured by the Rating Anxiety in Dementia scale. Secondary outcomes include change in quality of life and depression, and outcomes for carers. The process evaluation will be guided by evaluation frameworks. Qualitative interviews will be conducted with a purposive sample of participants (n = 10) and carers (n = 10), to evaluate acceptability and feasibility, as well as factors influencing participation and adherence. Interviews will also be conducted with therapists (n = 18) and wider stakeholders (n = 18), to explore contextual factors and barriers/facilitators to future implementation and scalability. A cost-utility analysis will be undertaken to determine the cost-effectiveness of Tech-CBT compared to usual care. DISCUSSION: This is the first trial to evaluate a novel technology-assisted CBT intervention to reduce anxiety in people living with MCI and dementia. Other potential benefits include improved quality of life for people with cognitive impairment and their care partners, improved access to psychological treatment regardless of geographical location, and upskilling of the psychological workforce in anxiety treatment for people living with MCI and dementia. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial has been prospectively registered with ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05528302 [September 2, 2022].

ECT efficacy and treatment course: a systematic review and meta-analysis of twice vs thrice weekly schedules.

BACKGROUND: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) guidelines, across various regulatory bodies, lack consensus as to the optimal frequency of treatment for individual patients. Some authors postulate that twice weekly ECT may have a similar efficacy to thrice weekly, and may have a lower risk of adverse cognitive outcomes. We did a systematic review and a meta-analysis to assess the strength of associations between ECT frequency and depression scores, duration of treatment, number of ECTs, and remission rates. METHODS: We searched on Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (to December 2009), and searched reports to identify comparative studies of frequency of ECT. We did both random-effects (RE) and quality effect (QE) meta-analyses to determine the risk of various outcomes associated with lesser frequency as compared to the thrice weekly frequency. RESULTS: We analysed 8 datasets (7 articles), including 214 subjects. Twice-weekly frequency of ECT was associated with a similar change in depression score (QE model SMD -0.11 [-0.55-0.33] and RE model SMD -0.17 [-0.77-0.43]) as compared to thrice weekly ECT. The number of real ECT's trended towards fewer in the twice weekly group. There was a statistically significant longer duration of treatment with a twice weekly protocol (QE model 6.48 days [4.99-7.97] and RE model 4.78 days [0.74-8.82]). There was a statistically significant greater efficacy for thrice weekly ECT compared to once weekly ECT (QE model SMD 1.25 [-0.62-1.9] and RE model SMD 1.31 [0.6-2.02]). CONCLUSIONS: Twice weekly ECT is associated with similar efficacy to thrice weekly ECT, may require fewer treatments and may be associated with longer treatment duration when compared to thrice weekly. These epidemiological observations support the routine use of twice weekly ECT in acute courses, though choice of frequency should take into account individual patient factors. These observations have implications for resource utilisation e.g. costs of duration of admission vs cost of provision of ECT, as well as issues of access to inpatient beds and anaesthetist time.

Prospective evaluation of tools to assess the psychological response of CPR provision to a relative who has suffered a cardiac arrest: a pilot project.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate assessment tools to measure the psychological impact of providing CPR to a relative. We set out to evaluate the Revised Impact of Event Scale (IES-R) and Texas Inventory of Grief (TIG) for comparing CPR providers and non-providers, and to establish whether research of this nature had a negative impact on the participants. We also collected narrative data from CPR providers. METHODS: Prospective sampling of relatives of patients presenting to hospital who had witnessed their relative have a cardiac arrest and who had performed or witnessed CPR. Participants performed two interviews and completed the IES-R and the TIG. RESULTS: Twenty-nine cardiac arrest victims presented, with ten relatives enrolled. The IES-R and TIG were feasible, and registered moderate responses from CPR providers and non-providers. There was no significant difference in the IES-R score between CPR providers and non-providers (1.96 vs. 1.04, p=0.3). There was no significant difference between scores obtained at two different time points (1.75 vs. 1.63, p=0.43). Participants demonstrated a moderate response on the TIG (mean TIG score 2.8, SD 1.7). Participants did not have a negative perception of study involvement, and actually perceived a benefit from discussion with a health professional. CONCLUSION: It is acceptable and achievable to prospectively assess the response of a cardiac arrest victim's relatives to the provision of CPR. The test instruments used were appropriate and feasible. Results suggested a sample size of 48 to achieve a statistically significant result.