Kalapatapu Raj K, Neugroschl Judith A
Geriatric Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
Geriatrics. 2009 Apr;64(4):20-6.
The neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia can lead to a decreased quality of life, rapid cognitive decline, early patient institutionalization, tremendous caregiver burden, and increased cost of care. A thorough assessment to evaluate and treat any underlying causes of symptoms is essential. With the lack of an approved drug to treat the neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia, nonpharmacologic interventions take on added importance. Behavioral management, cognitive stimulation therapy, and caregiver and health care staff education have shown the most promise to reduce symptom burden over the long term. The antipsychotic drugs have been the traditional choice of medications to treat the neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia, but safety problems emerged with their use, leading to the issuance of label changes ("black box" warnings) by the Food and Drug Administration. Aside from antipsychotic drugs, multiple classes of medications have been tried to treat such symptoms but long-term data showing efficacy and safety are often lacking.
痴呆症的神经精神症状会导致生活质量下降、认知能力迅速衰退、患者过早被送入养老院、护理人员负担过重以及护理成本增加。进行全面评估以评估和治疗症状的任何潜在原因至关重要。由于缺乏批准用于治疗痴呆症神经精神症状的药物，非药物干预措施变得更加重要。行为管理、认知刺激疗法以及对护理人员和医护人员的教育在长期减轻症状负担方面显示出最大的前景。抗精神病药物一直是治疗痴呆症神经精神症状的传统药物选择，但使用过程中出现了安全问题，导致美国食品药品监督管理局发布了标签变更（“黑框”警告）。除了抗精神病药物外，还尝试了多种药物来治疗此类症状，但往往缺乏显示疗效和安全性的长期数据。
