MacAndrew Margaret, Schnitker Linda, Shepherd Nicole, Beattie Elizabeth
The Dementia Collaborative Research Centre: Carers and Consumers, School of Nursing, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Australas J Ageing. 2018 Sep;37(3):E97-E103. doi: 10.1111/ajag.12542. Epub 2018 May 22.
This study aimed to understand the circumstances in which people with dementia become lost, and the outcomes of these incidents.
A search was conducted of news articles published in Australia between 2011 and 2015 reporting a missing person with a diagnosis of dementia.
Over the five-year period, 130 missing person cases were reported. The average age of the missing person was 75 years with more men (74%) than women reported missing. Most missing persons travelled on foot (62%) and were last seen at home (66%). The newspaper reports described 92 (71%) of the individuals being found. Of these, 60% were found well, 20% were found injured, and 20% were deceased.
People with dementia are at risk of becoming lost from their homes or health-care settings, and this can have catastrophic outcomes. Care strategies need to focus on promoting autonomy while ensuring adverse outcomes are minimised.
本研究旨在了解痴呆症患者走失的情况以及这些事件的后果。
对2011年至2015年期间澳大利亚发表的报道痴呆症患者失踪的新闻文章进行了检索。
在这五年期间，共报道了130起失踪人员案件。失踪人员的平均年龄为75岁，报告失踪的男性（74%）多于女性。大多数失踪人员是步行走失（62%），最后一次被看到是在家中（66%）。报纸报道称，92名（71%）失踪人员已被找到。其中，60%被找到时状况良好，20%被找到时受伤，20%已死亡。
痴呆症患者有从家中或医疗机构走失的风险，这可能会产生灾难性后果。护理策略需要在促进自主性的同时，确保将不良后果降至最低。
