Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-94d59 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T13:42:20.701Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Prevalence and Management of Dementia and Other Psychiatric Disorders in Nursing Homes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2005

Barry W. Rovner
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
Pearl S. German
Affiliation:
Department of Health Policy and Management, John Hopkins University School of Public Health and Hygiene, Baltimore, Maryland
Jeremy Broadhead
Affiliation:
Maudsley Hospital, London, England
Richard K. Morriss
Affiliation:
University of Leeds, Leeds, England
Larry J. Brant
Affiliation:
Gerontology Research Center, Francis Scott Key Medical Center
Jane Blaustein
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
Marshal F. Folstein
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland

Abstract

The prevalence of psychiatric disorders among new admissions to nursing homes is unknown. Such data are needed to estimate the psychiatric needs of this population. We report the prevalence of specific psychiatric disorders in 454 consecutive new nursing home admissions who were evaluated by psychiatrists and diagnosed according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, third edition, revised. Eighty percent had a psychiatric disorder. The commonest were dementia syndromes (67.4%) and affective disorders (10%). Also, 40% of demented patients had additional psychiatric syndromes such as delusions or depression, and these patients constituted a distinct subgroup that predicted frequent use of restraints and neuroleptics, and the greatest consumption of nursing time. These data demonstrate that the majority of nursing home residents have psychiatric disorders on admission, and that their management is often quite restrictive. Research is now needed to determine the best methods of treatment for nursing home patients with mental disorders.

Type
Research and Reviews
Copyright
© 1990 Springer Publishing Company

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

First Place Winner of the 1989 IPA Research Awards (sponsored by Bayer AG)