title: Buspirone for the treatment of dementia with behavioral disturbance.
abstract: Behavioral disturbances are common but serious symptoms in patients with dementia. Currently, there are no FDA approved drugs for this purpose. There have been case reports and small case series of the use of buspirone. In this retrospective study, we review 179 patients prescribed buspirone for treatment of behavioral disturbance in dementia to better characterize the efficacy and potential side effects. All patients prescribed buspirone for behavioral disturbance due to dementia from a geropsychiatric outreach program were reviewed. Data was collected and analyzed using SPSS. One hundred-seventy-nine patients met criteria for the study with a mean age of 83.8 + 7. Alzheimer's dementia was the most common dementia (n = 61; 34.1%) followed by mixed dementia (n = 50, 27.9%) then vascular type (n = 31; 17.3%). Behavioral disturbances were mainly verbal aggression (n = 125; 69.8%), and physical aggression (n = 116; 64.8%). Using the Clinical Global Impression scale, 68.6% of patients responded to buspirone, with 41.8% being moderately to markedly improved. The mean dose of buspirone was 25.7 mg ± 12.50. Buspirone appears to be effective in treating behavioral disturbances in dementia. Future prospective and double blinded studies are needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences,University of Virginia Health System,Charlottesville,Virginia,USA.
authors.forename: Maria R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Santa Cruz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences,University of Virginia Health System,Charlottesville,Virginia,USA.
authors.forename: Priscilla C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Hidalgo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences,University of Virginia Health System,Charlottesville,Virginia,USA.
authors.forename: Meredith S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine,Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine,Huntington,West Virginia,USA.
authors.forename: Cornelius W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine,Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine,Huntington,West Virginia,USA.
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Holroyd
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000374:Aggression / Q000187:drug effects*; D002065:Buspirone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003704:Dementia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014768:Virginia
chemical_list: D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists; D002065:Buspirone
keywords: Alzheimer's; behavioral disturbance; buspirone; dementia