Stroke and Dementia Lab, "Luigi Sacco" Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, University of Milan, Via Giovanni Battista Grassi 74, 20157, Milan, Italy.
Center for Cognitive Disorders and Dementias (CDCD), Neurology Unit, Ospedale Luigi Sacco, Milan, Italy.
Neurol Sci. 2021 Mar;42(3):825-833. doi: 10.1007/s10072-020-05035-8. Epub 2021 Jan 14.
During Covid-19 pandemic, the Italian government adopted restrictive limitations and declared a national lockdown on March 9, which lasted until May 4 and produced dramatic consequences on people's lives. The aim of our study was to assess the impact of prolonged lockdown on behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD).
Between April 30 and June 8, 2020, we interviewed with a telephone-based questionnaire the caregivers of the community-dwelling patients with dementia who had their follow-up visit scheduled from March 9 to May 15 and canceled due to lockdown. Among the information collected, patients' BPSDs were assessed by the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). Non-parametric tests to compare differences between NPI scores over time and logistic regression models to explore the impact of different factors on BPSD worsening were performed.
A total of 109 visits were canceled and 94/109 caregivers completed the interview. Apathy, irritability, agitation and aggression, and depression were the most common neuropsychiatric symptoms experienced by patients both at baseline and during Covid-19 pandemic. Changes in total NPI and caregiver distress scores between baseline and during lockdown, although statistically significant, were overall modest. The logistic regression model failed to determine predictors of BPSD worsening during lockdown.
This is one of the first studies to investigate the presence of BPSD during SARS-CoV-2 outbreak and related nationwide lockdown, showing only slight, likely not clinically relevant, differences in BPSD burden, concerning mostly agitation and aggression, anxiety, apathy and indifference, and irritability.
在新冠疫情期间，意大利政府采取了限制措施，并于 3 月 9 日宣布全国封锁，一直持续到 5 月 4 日，这对人们的生活产生了巨大的影响。我们的研究旨在评估长时间封锁对痴呆症患者行为和心理症状（BPSD）的影响。
在 2020 年 4 月 30 日至 6 月 8 日期间，我们通过电话问卷的方式采访了那些原定于 3 月 9 日至 5 月 15 日进行随访，但由于封锁而取消的社区居住的痴呆症患者的照顾者。在收集的信息中，使用神经精神问卷（NPI）评估患者的 BPSD。进行非参数检验比较 NPI 评分随时间的差异，以及逻辑回归模型探索不同因素对 BPSD 恶化的影响。
共有 109 次就诊被取消，其中 94/109 名照顾者完成了采访。在基线和新冠疫情期间，患者最常见的神经精神症状是淡漠、易怒、激越和攻击行为以及抑郁。虽然总 NPI 和照顾者痛苦评分的变化在统计学上有显著差异，但总体上幅度较小。逻辑回归模型未能确定封锁期间 BPSD 恶化的预测因素。
这是首批研究新冠病毒爆发期间及相关全国性封锁期间 BPSD 的研究之一，结果仅显示 BPSD 负担略有增加，可能没有临床意义，主要涉及激越和攻击行为、焦虑、淡漠和冷漠以及易怒。
