Abstract:
Wandering behavior in people with dementia causes the serious consequences ; including physical injuries, getting lost and fatality. Currently, it is lack of evidence-based information concerning wandering behavior in people with dementia in Thailand. Objectives: To explore the prevalence and associated factors of wandering behavior in people with dementia at dementia clinic, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital. Methods: The samples of 95 subjects from dementia clinic were interviewed using demographic data questionaires, Revised Algase Wandering Scale Community Version (RAWSCV), NPI-Q, Barthel ADL Index, Chula ADL Index, TMSE and Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI). The SPSS version 22 was used for descriptive and inferential statistics analyses. Univariated analysis was used to demonstrate the associated factors while logistic and linear regression analyses were used to determine the risk and predictive factors. Results: The prevalence of reported wandering behavior in people with dementia from caregivers was 23.2%, while 82.1% of subjects had the score of the RAWS-CV > 1. The risk factors for wandering behavior were duration of dementia diagnosis more than 4 years, presence of hallucination, apathy, and disinhibition. The predictive factors for RAWS-CV were the level of NPI-Q severity and caregivers distress, presence of hallucination, having medical comorbidities, having appetite/eating disorder and prescribed for memantine. Conclusion: One quarter of the patients at Dementia Clinic had history of wandering behavior reported from caregivers, while more than 4 in 5 of the subjects had these behaviors from RAWS-CV and caused caregivers distress. The Wandering Scale can be helpful in assessment of risk and prevention of serious consequences of wandering behavior