Methodological issues in characterizing treatment response indemented patients with behavioral disturbances
B.H. Mulsant
Bok Engelsk 1997
| Utgitt | 1997
|
|---|---|
| Omfang | Side 537- 547
|
| Opplysninger | Despite the proliferation of instruments developed to rate behavioraldisturbances associated with dementia, systematic studies of howratings on these instruments should be analyzed to measure change indisruptive behaviors or distressing symptoms (ie treatment response)are noticeably absent. Using one of these scales, we compared threemethods to characterize treatment response in 52 elderly dementedinpatients who participated in a standardized neuroleptic trial.While all three analyses identified a statistically significantimprovement, they conveyed differently the clinical improvementexperienced by the patients. Categorical outcomes communicated theclinical meaning of improvement better than changes in total score;changes in factor scores best revealed the differential impact oftreatment on specific behavioral and symptomatic domains. Given theheterogeneity of the problematic behaviors and symptoms exhibited bydemented patients included in treatment trials, regardless of theintervention being tested or of the instrument being used to ratebehaviors, a focused approach to characterizing treatment response isneeded. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
|
| Emner |
