Marco Canevelli, Department of Human Neuroscience, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Viale dell'Università 30, 00185 Rome, Italy, Tel/fax +39 (0)6 49914604; Email:
J Nutr Health Aging. 2019;23(7):614-616. doi: 10.1007/s12603-019-1209-7.
Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) are one of the most challenging issues in the management and care of people with dementia. Their accurate assessment is thus crucial for properly approaching subjects with cognitive disorders in the clinical setting. In parallel, the correct evaluation of NPS is also particularly relevant in the research field where they serve as critical indicators for measuring the efficacy of interventions against cognitive disorders. However, the study of NPS is extremely challenging given their extreme inter- and intra-individual variability. Moreover, the available assessment tools are often inadequate to fully capture their complexity and phenotypic expression. Based on these considerations, novel modalities for the assessment and measurement of NPS may be important to identify and develop. In this regard, a promising alternative (or, at least, a complementary aid) to traditional scales and questionnaires might be constituted by diaries. In the present article, we discuss the potential advantages and implications that may result from the adoption of this kind of instruments for the ecological assessment of NPS in subjects with dementia.
神经精神症状（NPS）是痴呆症患者管理和护理中最具挑战性的问题之一。因此，准确评估 NPS 对于在临床环境中正确处理认知障碍患者至关重要。同时，在研究领域中，正确评估 NPS 也非常重要，因为它是衡量针对认知障碍干预措施效果的关键指标。然而，由于 NPS 存在极端的个体内和个体间变异性，因此对其进行研究极具挑战性。此外，现有的评估工具通常不足以充分捕捉其复杂性和表型表达。基于这些考虑，评估和测量 NPS 的新方法可能很重要，需要加以识别和开发。在这方面，日记可能是传统量表和问卷的一种有前途的替代方法（或者至少是一种补充手段）。在本文中，我们讨论了在痴呆症患者中采用这种工具进行 NPS 的生态评估可能带来的潜在优势和影响。
