The Determination of Agitation Behaviors among the Elderly People Receiving Long-Term Institutional Care and the Influencing Factors

Aim: Agitation is common among elderlypeople staying at nursing homes. It is a significant problem particularly forpatients with dementia. This study aims to determine the agitation behaviors ofelderly people receiving long-term institutional care in a city and influencingfactors.

Method: The population of this descriptiveand analytical study consisted of elderly individuals in three institutionalcare centers. 178 elderly individuals aged 60 and above were taken into thesample group. Approval was taken from them and their relatives. The study datawere collected between September–November 2018 using the socio-demographicquestion form, the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI), the Mini-CogBrief Cognitive Assessment Form, the Barthel Index for Activities of DailyLiving (ADL) and the Lawton&Brody Instrumental Activities of Daily LivingScale (IADL).

Results: The mean age of the participantswas 75.58±8.77 and 56.7% were males. The duration of stay at the institutionwas 23.48±24.46 months. Although 50.6% of the participants had psychiatricdiagnoses. The mean score for the CMAI for the patients with dementia was46.26±15.10, which was significantly higher than those without dementia(Z=-2.132, p=0.033).

Conclusions: The results show agitation ishigh among patients with dementia and cognitive impairment affects agitationsignificantly.

Cite this article as: Bayram, S., Usta, E., Altınbaş-Akkaş, Ö. ve Şık, T. (2019). Thedetermination of agitation behaviors among the elderly people receivinglong-term ınstitutional care and the ınfluencing factors. FNJN FlorenceNightingale Journal of Nursing, 27(2): 173-187.