Psychogeriatrics : the official journal of the Japanese Psychogeriatric Society
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Case Reports
Caring for early-onset dementia with excessive wandering of over 30 kilometres per day: a case report.
Excessive wandering in people in dementia is associated with a severe care burden. However, the quantification of excessive wandering has not been described, and its cause and treatment have not been evaluated with objective measurements to date. The purpose of this study was to evaluate pharmacological treatments and non-pharmacological interventions to reduce excessive wandering in an early-onset Alzheimer disease patient with objective indicators. ⋯ When the environment was changed to meet her needs, the distance moved per day decreased to <15 km and the sleep disturbances disappeared. This case demonstrated the difficulty in assessing the degree of ambulation and sleep disorder. Objective indicators are essential in evaluating the effectiveness of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions.