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Published on: February 19, 2018
Empirical derivation and validation of a wandering typology
Donna L Algase1, Cathy Antonakos, Elizabeth R A Beattie
1School of Nursing, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. dalgase@umich.edu
Objectives:
To develop and validate a wandering typology.
Design:
Cross-sectional, correlational descriptive design.
Setting:
Twenty-two nursing homes and six assisted living facilities.
Participants:
One hundred forty-two residents with dementia who spoke English, met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, criteria for dementia, scored less than 24 on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), were ambulatory (with or without assistive device), and maintained a stable regime of psychotropic medications were studied.
Measurements:
Data on wandering were collected using direct observations, plotted serially according to rate and duration to yield 21 parameters, and reduced through factor analysis to four components: high rate, high duration, low to moderate rate and duration, and time of day. Other measures included the MMSE, Minimum Data Set 2.0 mobility items, Cumulative Illness Rating Scale-Geriatric, and tympanic body temperature readings.
Results:
Three groups of wanderers were identified through cluster analysis: classic, moderate, and subclinical. MMSE, mobility, and cardiac and upper and lower gastrointestinal problems differed between groups of wanderers and in comparison with nonwanderers.
Conclusion:
Results have implications for improving identification of wanderers and treatment of possible contributing factors.
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