Affiliation:
1. School of Nursing and Midwifery Deakin University Burwood Vic. Australia
2. Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research in the Institute for Health Transformation Deakin University Burwood Vic. Australia
3. Centre for Quality and Patient Safety—Eastern Health Partnership Box Hill Vic. Australia
Abstract
AbstractBackgroundBehavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia are a group of non‐cognitive symptoms such as agitation, physical aggression, depression, sexual disinhibition and psychosis. Therapeutic approaches vary because of the multifactorial and complex symptomology. The researchers of this study aimed to systematically review the nonpharmacological interventions for BPSD used by nurses in acute and subacute hospital settings.DesignThe PRISMA guidelines guided this systematic review. The review was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020184015).MethodThe databases Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) complete, Medline complete, Excerpta Medica (Embase®) and PsycINFO published by the American Psychological Association (APA) were searched for studies published in English to October 2021. Quality appraisal was performed independently by three reviewers using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program tools. Data were synthesized using a narrative approach.ResultsTwo studies were identified that focused on interventions used by nurses; findings were positive for the use of nonpharmacological interventions to manage BPSD.ConclusionCurrent evidence suggests that nonpharmacological interventions are the best practices to manage BPSD. However, limited, and low‐quality evidence suggests that further investigation is required to understand the factors contributing to the lack of use of nonpharmacological interventions by nurses in acute and subacute hospital settings.