title: Longitudinal investigation of wandering behavior in Department of Veterans Affairs nursing home care units.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the extent of and factors associated with male residents who change wandering status post nursing home admission.
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal design with secondary data analyses. Admissions over a 4-year period were examined using repeat assessments with the Minimum Data Set (MDS) to formulate a model understanding the development of wandering behavior.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred thirty-four Veterans Administration (VA) nursing homes throughout the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  Included 6673 residents admitted to VA nursing homes between October 2000 and October 2004.
  
  
  METHODS
  MDS variables (cognitive impairment, mood, behavior problems, activities of daily living and wandering) included ratings recorded at residents' admission to the nursing home and a minimum of two other time points at quarterly intervals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The majority (86%) of the sample were classified as non-wanderers at admission and most of these (94%) remained non-wanderers until discharge or the end of the study. Fifty-one per cent of the wanderers changed status to non-wanderers with 6% of these residents fluctuating in status more than two times. Admission variables associated with an increased risk of changing status from non-wandering to wandering included older age, greater cognitive impairment, more socially inappropriate behavior, resisting care, easier distractibility, and needing less help with personal hygiene. Requiring assistance with locomotion and having three or more medical comorbidities were associated with a decreased chance of changing from non-wandering to wandering status.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A resident's change from non-wandering to wandering status may reflect an undetected medical event that affects cognition, but spares mobility.
authors: University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors: Bellinda
authors: B
authors: King-Kallimanis
authors: Lawrence
authors: L
authors: Schonfeld
authors: Victor A
authors: VA
authors: Molinari
authors: Donna
authors: D
authors: Algase
authors: Lisa M
authors: LM
authors: Brown
authors: William D
authors: WD
authors: Kearns
authors: Darlene M
authors: DM
authors: Davis
authors: Dennis H
authors: DH
authors: Werner
authors: Elizabeth R
authors: ER
authors: Beattie
authors: Audrey L
authors: AL
authors: Nelson
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009735:Nursing Homes; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012307:Risk Factors; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology*; D055816:Wandering Behavior / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data