International journal of geriatric psychiatry
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Int J Geriatr Psychiatry · Jan 2006
Multicenter StudyDementia patients caregivers quality of life: the PIXEL study.
Alzheimer's disease and related syndromes have heavy social and human consequences for the patient and his family. Beyond the neuropsychiatric effects of specific therapies for dementia, one of today's challenges is the quality of life for both patients and their informal caregivers. ⋯ Caregivers' and patients' quality of life are related and both share a community of distress.
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Int J Geriatr Psychiatry · Dec 2005
Delirium-O-Meter: a nurses' rating scale for monitoring delirium severity in geriatric patients.
Delirium is a common psychiatric disorder in general hospital elderly patients. Several delirium screening tests exist. Few nurse based delirium severity measures are available. The aim of this study was to evaluate the Delirium-O-Meter, a new nurses' behavioural rating scale that is an efficient and sensitive measure of delirium severity. ⋯ The newly constructed DOM is a brief and valid nurses' behavioural rating scale that can be useful for measuring different aspects of delirium and for efficiently monitoring delirium severity in elderly patients.
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Int J Geriatr Psychiatry · Dec 2005
The TE4D-Cog: a new test for detecting early dementia in English-speaking populations.
The screening test usually used to detect dementia (Mini Mental State Examination, MMSE) is limited by a ceiling effect and high false positive rates, as are other similar instruments. There is therefore a need for a more sensitive and specific screening tool to aid early detection and diagnosis of dementia. ⋯ The TE4D-Cog is easy to administer, short and acceptable. Results are independent of age, gender and level of education. The TE4D-Cog may therefore be a useful alternative to the MMSE as a dementia screening instrument.
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Int J Geriatr Psychiatry · Oct 2005
Comparative StudyA comparison of the efficacy of donepezil in Parkinson's disease with dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies.
Parkinson's disease with dementia (PDD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) overlap in phenomenology and neurochemical deficits. We hypothesised they would not differ in their response to the cholinesterase inhibitor donepezil. ⋯ Donepezil produced similar improvements in cognition and behaviour in DLB and PDD. This supports the hypothesis that the two disorders are closely related clinically and neurobiologically. Larger scale, placebo controlled clinical trials are needed to provide an evidence base to guide the clinical use of cholinesterase inhibitors in Lewy body disease.
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Int J Geriatr Psychiatry · Aug 2005
Multicenter StudyAre nursing home patients with dementia diagnosis at increased risk for inadequate pain treatment?
Mentally impaired and demented nursing home patients are at increased risk of undertreatment for pain. We wanted to examine pain assessment and complaints and pain treatment of nursing home patients according to mental state, and with special regard to treatment of patients with dementia diagnosis and cognitively impaired patients who did not have a dementia diagnosis. ⋯ A label of dementia may bias the interpretation of pain cues of demented patients, while complaints from cognitively impaired patients may be taken for granted. This may contribute to lower use of PRN medication in demented patients compared to cognitively impaired patients.