Agitated behaviors among elderly people with dementia living in their home in Taiwan.

Abstract

Background/aimsLimited research has been conducted on agitated behavior in Taiwan and dementia among community-dwelling elderly. Therefore, this study focused on community elderly with dementia and a factor analysis of an inventory of their agitated behaviors was conducted.Patients and methodsParticipants (N=221) completed the Chinese Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory, community form. Item analysis and exploratory factor analysis assessed reliability, validity, and the underlying factor structure.ResultsFive factors were extracted and accounted for 44.53% of the total variance. This study classified agitated behaviors into 5 main subtypes: physically agitated behaviors, destructive behaviors, verbally agitated behaviors, handling things behavior, and aggressive behaviors.ConclusionThe results indicate that differences in the agitated behavior of elderly with dementia exist with respect to cultural background and setting. This novel research and its findings serve as a reference for assessing the agitated behaviors of elderly with dementia living in their homes. Applications may exist for other countries with Chinese/Taiwanese populations.