Sensory stimulation in dementia

摘要

Most older people with dementia at some point in their illness develop psychiatric symptoms or behavioural disturbances such as agitation, aggression, depression, delusions, wandering, sleep disturbance, and hallucinations. Collectively, these are termed behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. They are frightening for patients and their carers; constitute a major management problem for psychiatrists, general practitioners, and geriatricians; and act as a trigger for admission to institutional care. Alter excluding treatable causes such as concurrent infections, non-pharmacological approaches such as behavioural management are the recommended first line intervention.