Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and validity of actigraphy as a measurement of agitation in dementia.
Methods: Participants aged 65 and older, diagnosed with dementia, residing in a geriatric psychiatry inpatient unit or long-term care facility were included in a cross-sectional study. Agitation was assessed using the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI) and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). Actigraphy was measured over seven days and compared across groups categorized as low or high agitation based on a CMAI cutoff score of 50.
Results: Twenty participants were enrolled (mean age = 74.3 years, standard deviation [SD] = 8.69). The 24-hour mean motor activity as measured with actigraphy was significantly different between the low and high agitation groups (180.23, SD = 86.34 versus 81.51, SD = 30.29, Z = 2.29; p = 0.02). Most actigraph variables had significant correlations with CMAI and NPI scores.
Conclusion: Actigraphy was highly correlated with informant-based methods for measuring agitation in individuals with dementia and actigraphy may be useful tool for measuring agitation.
Keywords: Dementia; actigraphy; agitation; measurement; neuropsychiatric.
Copyright © 2019 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.