Influencing factors of psychological and behavioral symptoms among dementia patients in old-age care instituions

Abstract

Objective To explore the influencing factors of psychological and behavioral symptoms among dementia patients in old-age care institutions in China along with taking the need-driven dementia-compromised behavior (NDB) model as the theoretical framework. Methods From July to August 2013, 687 elderly people from four public old-age care institutions in Zhejiang Province and 246 dementia patients enrolled in. Assessment was carried out with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) , Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) , Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Questionnaire (NPI-Q) , Chinese version of Pain Assessment Scale for Patients with Advanced Dementia (C-PAINAD) . Results Among the 246 patients with dementia, 233 had at least one mental behavioral symptom in the past 1 month, accounting for 94.7%, of which sleep/night behavior was the most common, accounting for 59.3%; followed by abnormal motor behavior (46.7%) , irritability/emotional lability (44.3%) and depression (43.5%) . Multiple linear regression on influencing factors of psychological and behavioral symptoms among dementia patients in old-age care institutions based on NDB model showed that the background factors were activity of daily living and CDR (P<0.05) , the proximal factors included having or not having entrance guard, frequency of family visit and having or not having spouse (P<0.05) . Conclusions Psychological and behavioral symptoms are hints of demands among dementia patients. If an appropriate response is given, the symptom will be reduced. Caregivers should provide corresponding care according to proximal factors and background factors so as to decrease the incidence of psychological and behavioral symptoms. Key words: Dementia; Aged; Psychological and behavioral symptoms; Need-driven dementia-compromised behavior model; Old-age care instituions