title: Inappropriate Sexual Behaviors Among Community-Dwelling Patients with Dementia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Inappropriate sexual behaviors (ISBs) represent challenging and stressful manifestations of dementia and are highly burdening for patients, families, and healthcare providers. Nevertheless, ISBs have so far attracted limited clinical and scientific interest compared with other neuropsychiatric symptoms occurring in dementing illnesses. The authors aimed to systematically investigate the prevalence and characteristics of ISBs in a population of patients with dementia attending a memory clinic.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this cross-sectional study, individuals with dementia attending our memory clinic were consecutively enrolled between January 2015 and February 2016. Participating subjects underwent a detailed medical history collection and a comprehensive cognitive, functional, and neuropsychiatric assessment. The presence of ISBs (in the previous 30 days) was investigated by the adoption of an ad hoc questionnaire, administered to informants. A logistic regression model was carried out to identify sociodemographic and clinical variables associated with ISBs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the 195 patients (48.7% women) with dementia recruited for the study, ISBs were detected in 35 patients (17.9% of the total sample). The logistic regression model showed that male sex (OR: 5.14; 95% CI: 1.44-18.41) and anxiety (OR: 4.92; 95% CI: 1.44-16.84) were statistically significantly associated with the presence of ISBs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ISBs represent common manifestations of dementing illnesses. Given the significant burden of ISBs on patients and families and the impact on care management, their occurrence should always be investigated in the clinical care of individuals with dementia. For this purpose, specific screening/assessment tools should be properly designed and validated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: marco.canevelli@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Canevelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Flaminia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lucchini
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Garofalo
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Talarico
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Trebbastoni
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabrizia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: D'Antonio
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Letizia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Imbriano
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Velotti
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Lena
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gasparini
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bruno
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003704:Dementia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D057187:Independent Living; D008297:Male; D000066553:Problem Behavior; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Neuropsychiatric symptoms; behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia; dementia; inappropriate sexual behaviors; sexuality