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Temporal Patterns of Agitated Nursing Home Residents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2005

Jiska Cohen-Mansfield
Affiliation:
Research Institute of the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington, Rockville, Maryland, U.S.A. Center on Aging, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, U.S.A.
Marcia S. Marx
Affiliation:
Research Institute of the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington, Rockville, Maryland, U.S.A.
Perla Werner
Affiliation:
Research Institute of the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington, Rockville, Maryland, U.S.A.
Laurence Freedman
Affiliation:
Biometry Branch, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Maryland, U.S.A.

Abstract

Twenty-four highly agitated, cognitively impaired nursing home residents were studied in depth to determine whether they manifested temporal patterns of agitation. Results demonstrated that agitated behaviors were significantly associated with temporal factors. For instance, residents made more requests for attention during lunch than other time periods, and residents screamed most often during the night. Some agitated behaviors (e.g., aggression) were manifested more frequently in the evening than in the day, consistent with the notion of sundowning in the nursing home. Implications of temporal patterns of agitation for caregivers of severely cognitively impaired and agitated nursing home residents are discussed.

Type
Research and Reviews
Copyright
© 1992 Springer Publishing Company

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