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ObjectiveThis study investigates the prevalence of everyday functional impairment among older adults with schizophrenia and builds a predictive model of functional decline.MethodsA total of 113 hospitalized older patients enrolled in this study. Functional impairment is defined according to the Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ). Patients who scored ResultsThe sample comprised 75% female participants with a mean age of 63.74 ± 7.42 years old. A total of 33.6% had a functional impairment, while cognitive impairment was present in 63.7%. Independent participants had better urinary system and respiratory system health (P < 0.05). After adjusting for the potential confounders of age, disease course, physical comorbidities, psychiatric symptoms, the ability to independently carry out daily activities, and cognitive function, we found that impaired everyday function is associated with poor cognition, depressive symptoms, first admission, psychiatric symptoms (especially positive symptoms), ADL, and respiratory and urinary system diseases.ConclusionEveryday functional capacity is predicted by disease course, admission time, cognition, depressive symptoms, severity of psychosis, ability to carry out daily activities, and respiratory and urinary system health status. Urinary system diseases contribute significantly to the prediction of impaired function. Future studies should focus on health status, drug use, and everyday functional recovery in older patients with schizophrenia.

ObjectivesTo investigate differences in behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) and caregiver distress caused between older adults with dementia living in the community and in nursing homes.DesignA comparative cross-sectional study.Setting and ParticipantsParticipants were recruited from outpatient clinics of a tertiary psychiatric hospital and dementia units of a nursing home in Guangzhou, China.MethodsNeuropsychiatric Inventory was used to assess symptoms and caregiver distress. Dementia severity was determined using the Clinical Dementia Rating.ResultsThis study included 157 community and 112 nursing home residents with dementia. Clinically significant symptoms (item score ≥ 4) were found in 88.5% of the former and 75% of the latter. Caregivers of 79.6% of the former and 26.8% of the latter reported that at least one of these caused them moderate-to-severe distress (distress score ≥ 3). Among the community patients, anxiety was the most frequent “very severe” symptom, while sleep disorders and agitation caused the most frequent “very severe” caregiver distress. After controlling for dementia severity and medication use, family caregiving remained an independent risk predictor for clinically significant symptoms and moderate-to-severe caregiver distress. The prediction of caregiver distress based on symptom scores varied across caregiver types and individual symptoms (R2 0.36–0.82). Group differences in clinically significant symptoms and moderate-to-severe caregiver distress showed at the stage of moderate-to-severe dementia.Conclusions and ImplicationsTailored management strategies to relieve family caregivers’ BPSD-induced distress are needed, especially at the stage of moderate-to-severe dementia. An effective service system should be established for supporting family caregivers to cope with BPSD.

Objective:This study aimed to identify predictors of limitations in basic activities of daily living (BADL) among people with severe disabilities.Methods:4075 long-term care beneficiaries with severe disabilities in Guangzhou, China, were included during July 2018 and March 2019. BADL was assessed using the Barthel index (BI). Muscle strength was measured by using the Lovett Rating Scale. Age, gender, comorbidities, and muscle strengths were collected as independent variables. Chi-square Automatic Interaction Detector (CHAID) method was used to examine associations between independent variables and item scores of the BI.Results:Muscle strength and history of stroke were parent node and child node for most of BADL limitations, respectively. Upper limb muscle strength (≤ 3) was a major predictor for dependence in feeding, grooming, toileting, dressing, and transfer, while lower limb muscle strength (≤ 3) was a major predictor for limitation in mobility.Conclusions:Muscle strength was the strongest predictor of BADLs among people with severe disability. Muscle strength grading may be optimal for designing supporting strategies for people with severe disabilities.

ObjectivesTo evaluate application of the Barthel Index (BI) in assessing basic activities of daily living (ADL) of patients with dementia using Rasch analysis.DesignA multi-country cross-sectional study.Setting and ParticipantsNineteen long-term care facilities located in China, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand. A total of 644 patients with dementia were included.MethodsUnidimensionality, global and item fit, local dependence, person-item targeting, threshold disordering, and differential item functioning (DIF) were examined. Negative correlations between scores for DIF items and Neuropsychiatric Inventory Nursing Home version (NPI-NH) were evaluated.ResultsItem reliability (1.0) and person reliability (.88) were acceptable. The Rasch dimension explained 72.9% of the variance (Eigenvalue = 27), while the first contrast explained 6.6% (Eigenvalue = 2.4). The “mobility” was misfitting to the Rasch model (infit mean square = 1.86). The overall difficulty of the BI exceeded patients’ ability (person location = −2.27 logits). The “stairs climbing” and “mobility” showed narrow category thresholds (< 1.4 logits). The location of “controlling bladder” and “toilet use” overlapped. Removing “stairs climbing”, collapsing categories with narrow threshold widths in “mobility”, and combining “controlling bowel” and “controlling bladder” into one item, improved unidimensionality, and item fit of the scale. Only three items (“grooming”, “dressing”, and “toilet use”) were free from DIF across countries. The scores for “feeding” were negatively related to scores for “disinhibition” (r = −0.46, P < 0.01), and scores for “controlling bowel” were negatively related to scores for “disinhibition” (r = −0.44, P < 0.01), “agitation” (r = −0.32, P < 0.05), and “aggression” (r = −0.27, P < 0.01) in Japanese samples.Conclusions and ImplicationsThe performance of the BI for assessing patients with dementia might be compromised by misfit items, person–item mistargeting, measurement gaps, redundant items, narrow threshold width, and item bias. Mobility ability might not be helpful for determining capability of basic ADL in the patients. Comparisons of BI scores between countries should be undertaken with caution due to item bias. Neuropsychiatric symptoms might interact with basic ADL abilities of the patients. We will not suggest using the instrument in patients with dementia, without future refining to improve its performance.

ObjectivesTo explore differences in prevalence and disturbance of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) between institution-dwelling and community-dwelling patients with dementia.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted. Institution-dwelling (n=112) and community-dwelling patients with dementia (n=157) were enrolled from a nursing home and a tertiary psychiatric hospital located in Guangzhou, China, from March 2019 to September 2019. Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) was used to assess the prevalence and disturbance of BPSDs.ResultsThe community-dwelling patients were older, and having more antianxiety, anticonvulsant, anti- depression, anti-dementia medication use than institution-dwelling patients, while institution-dwelling patients used more antipsychotics than community-dwelling patients. The prevalence of hallucinations (χ2 = 8.55, P = 0.004), agitation (χ2 = 5.38, P = 0.026), depression (χ2 = 22.78, P < 0.001), anxiety (χ2 = 47.17, P < 0.001), aberrant motor behavior (χ2 = 4.72, P = 0.034), and sleep (χ2 = 4.16, P = 0.047) was higher in community-dwelling patients than that in institution-dwelling patients. Moreover, the frequency, severity, and disturbance of almost all of the BPSDs were higher in community-dwelling patients than those in institution-dwelling patients, except for euphoria. High Odds of having hallucination (OR 2.48, 95% CI 1.37-4.49), anxiety (OR 7.36, 95% CI 3.82-14.17), sleep disorder (OR 1.77, 95% CI 1.02-3.10) was observed in community-dwelling patients. Severe dementia was another risk factor for having hallucination (OR 5.48, 95% CI 2.25-13.38), anxiety (OR 2.73, 95% CI 1.22-6.12), sleep disorder (OR 2.61, 95% CI 1.21-5.64), apathy (OR 3.03, 95% CI 1.49-6.19), and irritability (OR 2.6, 95% CI 1.24-5.51). Community-dwelling and severe dementia were two main risk factors for higher NPI scores (adjusted R2 = 0.30), and higher disturbance of anxiety (adjusted R2 = 0.21), sleep disorders (adjusted R2 = 0.15), hallucination (adjusted R2 = 0.12) and irritability (adjusted R2 = 0.11).ConclusionThe prevalence and disturbance of BPSDs were higher in community-dwelling patients with dementia than institution-dwelling patients. Community-dwelling and severe dementia were two main risk factors for higher prevalence and disturbance of BPSDs, especially for anxiety, sleep disorders, and hallucination. Providing community-based BPSDs coping skill training and support for informal caregivers are needed.

Background & aims:Eating-related problems are common in people with dementia, and may have many adverse consequences. To provide a comprehensive assessment and understanding of these issues, we validated the Chinese version of the Abnormal Eating Behavior Questionnaire (AEBQ), and investigated the prevalence of and factors related to eating-related problems in people with dementia.Methods:A total of 129 people with dementia were recruited from a nursing home and a psychiatric hospital for a cross -sectional study. Internal consistency and test–retest reliability were tested using Cronbach’s α and intra-class correlation coefficient. Dimensionality was evaluated by principal component analysis. Concurrent validity was assessed using Spearman’s correlation coefficient to compare scores for AEBQ and the eating-related items in the Neuropsychiatric Inventory. Factors affecting the prevalence of eating-related problems were identified using logistic regression analysis.Results:The Chinese version of the AEBQ showed acceptable internal consistency, time stability, dimensionality, and concurrent validity. Overall, 86.8% of the participants showed eating-related problems. “Needs supervision” was the most common one, followed by “swallowing problems”. History of stroke (OR: 12.62, 95% CI: 1.58–101.06) and Clinical Dementia Rating (OR: 1.82, 95% CI: 1.02–3.24) were risk factors for “swallowing problems”. Use of antipsychotics protected against “decline in table manners” (OR: 0.21, 95% CI: 0.06–0.74), but was a risk factor for “decrease in appetite” (OR: 3.15, 95% CI: 1.35–7.38). Clinical Dementia Rating (OR: 9.27, 95% CI: 4.13–20.79) independently predicted “needs supervision”.Conclusion:The Chinese version of the AEBQ is a reliable and valid tool. People with dementia had a high prevalence of eating-related problems. Clinical assessment of eating-related problems in this group needs to screen for secondary causes or risk factors, such as psychotropic medications and comorbidities. Targeted interventions should be used to manage reversible eating-related problems among people with dementia.