Wandering behavior in veterans with psychiatric diagnoses residing in nursing homes.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate nursing home residents with psychiatric diagnoses who wander and who are not diagnosed with dementia.


METHODS
A national cross-sectional study was conducted in a male Veterans Administration Nursing Home Care Unit population using a retrospective review of the MDS.


RESULTS
Eleven thousand six hundred and nineteen residents were identified as having a psychiatric diagnosis without significant cognitive impairment; just under 1% (n = 113) wandered. Using rare events logit regression, we determined that a diagnosis of schizophrenia/bipolar disorder or comorbid psychiatric conditions were associated with increased risk of wandering compared to residents diagnosed with anxiety/depression. Psychiatric wanderers were also more likely to, have symptoms of delirium, exhibit socially inappropriate behavior, manifest problems in decision-making, take anti-psychotic medications, and to be more independent in locomotion.


CONCLUSIONS
Psychiatric wanderers may be conceptualized better as exhibiting ambulatory concomitants of unremitted neurological/psychiatric symptoms or medication side effects of their treatment. Findings have implications for addressing treatable causes of wandering.
Molinari
Victor
V
Department of Aging and Mental Health, University of South Florida, FL 33612-3899, USA. vmolinari@fmhi.usf.edu
King-Kallimanis
Bellinda
B
Volicer
Ladislav
L
Brown
Lisa
L
Schonfeld
Lawrence
L
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003657:Decision Making; D005431:Florida / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009735:Nursing Homes; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012920:Social Behavior Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology; D055816:Wandering Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents