Effect of the BACE intervention on agitation of people with dementia.
OBJECTIVE
This study tests the effectiveness of the theoretically driven BACE (i.e., Balancing Arousal Controls Excesses) intervention in decreasing agitation in residents of long-term care with moderate or severe dementia.


METHODS
A pretest-posttest double-blinded experimental design with random assignment was used with a sample of 78 participants. The BACE intervention controls the daily activity schedule so that there is a balance between a person's high-arousal and low-arousal states. The outcome measure was observed agitation.


RESULTS
When time spent in arousal imbalance at pretest was controlled for, a repeated measures analysis of covariance revealed a statistically significant Group x Time interaction, F(1, 69) = 4.26, p =.043, with a partial eta(2) =.06. The average change in agitation for the treatment group was a decrease of 8.43 points (SD = 12.01) from pretest to posttest, an effect size of.7.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study support the theory that balancing arousal states by using an individualized approach is effective in decreasing agitation levels of people with dementia.
Kovach
Christine R
CR
Cunningham Hall, 1921 East Hartford Avenue, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53201-0413, USA. ckovach@uwm.edu
Taneli
Yavuz
Y
Dohearty
Paul
P
Schlidt
Andrea Matovina
AM
Cashin
Susan
S
Silva-Smith
Amy L
AL
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000150:complications / Q000451:nursing*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006802:Human Activities; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015146:Midwestern United States; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011595:Psychomotor Agitation / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*