Antecedents and interventions for aggressive behavior of patients at a geropsychiatric state hospital.
Aggressive geropsychiatric patients pose major problems for long-term care facilities. Two exploratory surveys at a geropsychiatric state hospital, separated by brief programs of inservice training on managing aggressive patients, examined several aspects of aggressive behavior and staff interventions. Major findings included a stable overall prevalence of aggressive behavior in both survey periods; a persistently higher prevalence of aggression and a higher rate of physical aggression among dementia patients than among other patients; and staff-patient exchanges as a major triggering event for aggression. In the survey period after the inservice training, staff interventions remained similar for nondementia patients; however, for dementia patients, interpersonal interventions were used less frequently, and p.r.n. medications, alone or in combination with seclusion or restraint, were used more often.
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Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27103.
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D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005852:Geriatric Psychiatry; D006744:Hospital Bed Capacity, 100 to 299; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006783:Hospitals, State / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000523:psychology*; D007318:Inservice Training; D008134:Long-Term Care / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011595:Psychomotor Agitation / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D012307:Risk Factors; D014768:Virginia