American journal of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias
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Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen · Apr 2007
Use of the certified nursing assistant pain assessment tool (CPAT) in nursing home residents with dementia.
The purpose of this study was to develop a pain assessment tool utilized by certified nursing assistant (CNA) direct-care providers for nursing home residents with dementia and to examine the impact of such a tool on their function, behavior, or medication use. In the first phase, 41 items from an observational pain assessment tool were correlated with an objective pain "gold standard"; 12 statistically significant items were retained and used in the CNA pain assessment tool. ⋯ A pain assessment tool utilized by CNA direct-care providers can be developed for use in nursing home residents with dementia. Further study is required to determine whether the use of such a tool will improve their function or quality of life.
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Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen · Mar 2006
ReviewManagement of aggression, agitation, and psychosis in dementia: focus on atypical antipsychotics.
The behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), such as psychosis, agitation, or aggression have a considerable negative impact on the quality of life of both patients and their caregivers. Multiple studies have demonstrated that atypical antipsychotics are efficacious in the treatment of the aggressive and psychotic symptom clusters, and here we review their use in this indication. Because of the safety concerns associated with the use of atypical antipsychotics in this population, these drugs must be used judiciously. For patients with severe BPSD such as psychosis, agitation, or aggression, for whom there are few options, atypical antipsychotics, particularly risperidone and olanzapine, should be considered.
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Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen · May 2005
Instrumental help and caregivers' distress: effects of change in informal and formal help.
Family caregivers of persons with dementia rely on a range of resources to provide care and cope with caregiving stressors. Informal (unpaid) and formal (paid) instrumental support contribute to diverse caregiver outcomes. Previous research of caregiver support has focused on subjective measures of help or has compared caregivers receiving formal services to those who do not. ⋯ We expected that greater gains in assistance would be associated with greater reduction of caregivers' distress. Increases informal but not informal levels of assistance were associated with improvement in each measure of distress. Additional measures may be needed to fully understand the effects of informal and formal assistance.
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Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen · Nov 2004
Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical TrialCholinesterase inhibition as a possible therapy for delirium in vascular dementia: a controlled, open 24-month study of 246 patients.
The goal of this study was to determine whether rivastigmine, a dual inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE), has any effect on delirium in vascular dementia (VaD). The results from this follow-up study suggest that although delirium is frequent in elderly, cognitively impaired patients, it might not be a simple consequence of acute disease and hospitalization. ⋯ Rivastigmine may help reduce the frequency of delirium episodes and help shorten their duration. Additional studies are required to better define the causes of delirium, which currently has no definitive treatment.