Antipsychotic drug use and favourable natures of emotional functions in patients with dementia

Traditional Chinese medicine Jia Wei Gui Pi Tang improves behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia and favourable positive emotions in patients

BACKGROUND

Behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are challenging to manage, leading to caregiver burden and often to subsequent transfer of patients to a nursing home or psychiatric hospital for treatment. Eliciting favourable positive emotions should be an important goal in the treatment of negative emotions associated with BPSD. To date, no data have indicated that antipsychotic medications can improve positive emotions. BPSD are known to be associated with anxiety in patients with dementia. The traditional Chinese medicine Jia Wei Gui Pi Tang is officially indicated and approved for anxiety treatment in Japan.

METHODS

Here, we performed a multicentre, randomised, observer-blind control study of the effect of Jia Wei Gui Pi Tang on BPSD in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Patients with AD or AD with cerebral vascular disease were randomly divided into the Jia Wei Gui Pi Tang treatment group and the control group that received no traditional Chinese medicine. BPSD were scored using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Nursing Home Version (NPI-NH) and by favourable positive emotions using the Delightful Emotional Index (DEI).

RESULTS

A total of 63 participants (18 male and 45 female; mean age: 83.3 ± 6.0 years) were included in the study. Changes in NPI-NH scores differed significantly between the two groups (one-way analysis of variance, P < 0.001). Within the treatment group, there was a significant improvement in the NPI-NH score from 29.8 ± 17.3 at baseline to 13.2 ± 9.4 at the endpoint (paired t-test, P < 0.001), whereas there was no statistically significant change in the control group. Changes in DEI scores differed significantly between the two groups. Within the treatment group, there was a significant improvement in the DEI score from 24.3 ± 23.0 at baseline to 32.5 ± 21.2 at the endpoint (paired t-test, P = 0.001), whereas there was no statistically significant change in the control group.

CONCLUSION

The traditional Chinese medicine Jia Wei Gui Pi Tang significantly improved both BPSD and positive emotions.

Should antipsychotics be used for the management of agitation and psychosis in dementia?

Agitation and psychosis are two common distressing symptoms of dementia. The results of this issue's Cochrane Corner review suggest that, if a pharmacological approach is required, the use of risperidone and other atypical antipsychotics for the purpose of managing these symptoms seems questionable. Furthermore, typical antipsychotics, haloperidol in particular, might have a greater impact on agitation and psychosis than already recognised. This commentary critically appraises the evidence on the efficacy of typical and atypical antipsychotics for agitation and psychosis in dementia.

Dramatic Performance by a Professional Actor for the Treatment of Patients with Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia

Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) challenge caregivers, leading to caregiver burden and subsequent nursing home or inpatient placement in a psychiatric hospital for dementia. Favorable positive emotions should be an important goal for the treatment of negative emotions of BPSD. Arts are one of the most profound areas to stimulate favorable emotions. We have asked a professional actor, who was not involved in the daily care and regular rehabilitations, to give a dramatic performance by reading selected stories as if the patients with BPSD felt to be in the audiences of a theater. We wondered whether a dramatic performance by the actor might be a way to respond to the complex needs of inpatients with BPSD, especially focused on favorable emotions. New inpatients (Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, or dementia with Lewy bodies) were randomly assigned to a control group (n = 20) and a dramatic performance group (n = 14) in Sendai Tomizawa Hospital, a psychiatric hospital for dementia, in Japan. Dramatic performances were performed for one and half hours once per week for 3 months. Neuropsychiatric Inventory for BPSD decreased in both groups and delightful emotional index (DEI) for favorable emotions increased in the intervention group but not in the control group after 3 months. At 3 months, there was an increase of DEI in intervention group compared with control group. We conclude that dramatic performance may be one of the appropriate interventions in patients with BPSD, as it appears to help in their favorable emotional state.