P4-176: Actigraphic measurement of agitated behavior in dementia

Abstract

Actigraphic recordings have already been used to detect activity–rest disturbances in dementia and seem a promising tool to study agitation in a standardized fashion. As actigraphy has not yet been validated as a measure of agitation in dementia, we examined the correlation between actigraphic measures and a validated assessment scale of agitated behavior in dementia, the Cohen–Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI). Diagnosed according to strictly applied clinical diagnostic criteria, patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD; n=65), mixed dementia (MXD; n=20), frontotemporal dementia (FTD; n=9) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB; n=16) were included in the study (total n=110). All patients underwent actigraphic recordings for 48 hours. CMAI was scored by professional caretakers, who were responsible for the patient during his or her actigraphic recording. Mean age of the patients included was 78±8 years. Average MMSE was 15.1±6.8. Patients with high total CMAI scores (≥50) clearly had higher levels of activity during the day as measured by means of actigraphy than patients with low total CMAI scores (ANOVA, F=126.75, p<0.0001). Patients with low MMSE scores (<20) also had higher activity levels during the day than patients with higher MMSE scores (ANOVA, F=85.74, p<0.0001). Correlations between actigraphic data and CMAI total scores were moderate but highly significant. We conclude that actigraphy is a useful tool to examine agitated behavior in dementia.